Travelling with the Strongs

CELEBRATING ARIZONA’S CENTENNIAL AS A STATE FEBRUARY 14, 2012, WITH A RIDE ON THE GRAND CANYON RAILWAY

2012-02-18T18:59:00.001-08:00

We drove to Williams AZ with Jo’s sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Mike Williams, on Feb 13 to ride the Grand Canyon RY up to the Grand Canyon on February 14. The railroad had a special offer for the day we could not refuse! The 1912 price for the round trip ride was $7.50, and that was the price for our centennial trip. The ride was a sellout, with 1200 passengers in 12 coaches, including all of its Pullman-built coach cars made in 1923. The railroad could not add any more cars to the train for lack of passenger loading and unloading track length at both ends. There was snow on the ground at both ends of the trip.

Here is the interior of our coach. Mike Williams is in the lower right corner.

To help passengers while away the time in the 2:15 hour ride, the road ordinarily provides musicians walking through the cars.

As we neared the Grand Canyon, the snow became deeper with the increasing elevation. The train was pulled by a steam locomotive helped by two diesel units.

Two of the road’s newer higher fare cars brought up the rear of the train, here unloading at the Grand Canyon Depot.

Our first stop was the main dining room at the historic El Tovar hotel for a gourmet lunch. I am at the left, with Jo, Barbara and Mike Williams, and Jerry and Nancy Grout.

Our 3:15 hour layover gave us time to walk along the rim of the canyon to take in interesting sights as the high clouds created moving patterns in the canyon.

The long Bright Angel Canyon comes south from the north rim to meet the Colorado River in its inner gorge. I watched snow flurries making their way down the side canyon.

Snow flurries from scattered clouds are spreading over the Grand Canyon, blocking the view of upper Bright Angel Canyon.

We had the opportunity at Grand Canyon to get a good look at the motive power for our train.This was the first revenue run for steam locomotive 4960, a 2-8-2 Mikado, after a major overhaul in the Grand Canyon Railway shop in Williams.

The two diesel units helping the steamer were made by EMD and were built for AMTRAK.

Members of the Winslow AZ Harvey Girls Club provided special entertainment on our trip by giving kisses (Hershey) to the passengers.

The last entertainment was a train robbery, done on every trip made by the GCRY.

We returned the Valley on Feb. 15 via Chino Valley and Prescott. A group of school children was at the Yavapai County Courthouse which featured a display of a new postage stamp celebrating the Arizona centennial.

JEEPERS CREEPERS FEBRUARY 2, 2012, TRIP TO VERDE RIVER

2012-02-10T20:05:00.001-08:00

Our announced destination was the east end of Sheep Bridge via the road on the east side of the Verde River. Those on the outing were Trail leaders Jerry and Nancy Grout with guest Elsie Tennant, Mike and Barbara Williams with Marv and Marsha Jeck as passengers, Bill and Jo Strong, and Sid and Maxine White with guests Jerry and Maxine Walters.

Sheep bridge originally was built by sheep raisers who herded their flocks from the Phoenix valley area to high country for the summer and back in the fall to winter in the Valley. The main trail crossed the Verde River, and the bridge was built to avoid mortality of sheep in crossing. The original suspension bridge became weakened with age and the State built a new steel suspension bridge a few years ago. This year, for the first time, no herder is driving sheep to the high country. Now they are bring trucked. Sheep Bridge probably will never see another sheep!

From the Horseshoe Dam road, Jerry found the road to ford the Verde River a couple of miles south of Horseshoe Dam. As we crossed this body of flowing water, we all thought that the crossing was a “piece of cake”. But then we encountered the second crossing below, not so easy. No driver had the intestinal fortitude to try to cross it. There was too much water flowing too fast.

So we turned around and visited Horseshoe Dam. There was no water behind the dam; all of the Verde River was being allowed to flow through to be stored in Bartlett Lake downstream a few miles.

Our lunch stop was in a broad wash off the Horseshoe Dam road. It is amazing how fast we can get a fire going and set up the tables for the potluck lunch.

Here is a wider view of our lunch stop.

In the lower left is a Crowned Saguaro, said to be rare. Something has happened to the plant so that instead of growing taller, more growth causes the top to spread out.

After returning to the Bartlett Dam road we headed toward Carefree, to turn off and drive down the Camp Creek wash a few miles. When we reached the bottom, here was a developed area (Needle Rock)on the Verde River. This is very popular in the summertime for water recreation. This time of year the water is far too cold for wading. From here we continued south through the Ft. McDowell reservation to Bush Highway and home to Mesa.

ROADRUNNER VISIT TO QUARTZSITE JANUARY 27 - 29

2012-02-10T19:59:00.001-08:00

The MFC Roadrunner camping group was formed in 1966. The group went camping once a month for many years, usually to undeveloped campsites for dry camping. Lucy and I joined in 1966 when we had our green Volkswagen Westphalia camper. Over the years members’ equipment migrated from tents and tent trailers to trailers and finally to motor homes. Anyone with any kind of equipment was and is welcome to join.

In recent years enough members are on the road with their RVs in the summer that there are no regular summer campouts. Now our largest annual outing is at Quartzsite AZ during the RV show period in January. In the winter thousands of RVers gather around Quartzsite to camp, some for many weeks, on the nearby BLM land or in RV parks in the area. There are lots of vendors booths selling a wide variety of wares. The area looks like a very large swap meet.

A gem and mineral show is held there annually, with many vendors having permanent buildings for selling their minerals. This year Jo bought a cut stone which a friend has cut and finished into earrings and two pendants.

Our main socializing is around an evening campfire. This year, as in many earlier years, we were joined by a group of machinists from the Phoenix area who are friends with some of our Roadrunner members. There were 45 in our extended group in all. I will identify just the Roadrunners in the below pictures.

Second and third from left are Greg and Cheryl See, the hosts of the outing.

Jo’s son, Jeff Clyde, is at far right.

Beginning second from left, Jeff, Jo, Mike Williams, Barbara Williams and Maxine Stone.

The red lines appear to be fast-flying sparks from the fire. In the center are Gayle and Bill Kaml. Gale and her sister, Cheryl See, are daughters of one of the founders of the Roadrunners, Hamilton Bushie. Ham loved large campfires, and he often threw enough wood on a fire to make one with flames five feet high. Such a fires became known as Bushie fires. Our fire at Quartzsite resembled a Bushie Fire!

JANUARY VISIT TO GRANDDAUGHTER SAMANTHA’S FAMILY AND GARDEN RAILROAD IN LAS VEGAS

2012-02-10T19:52:00.001-08:00

After leaving Indio, we made the now familiar run up to Mojave CA to visit my granddaughter and family. Chris Gustin left home for his job in the I T department of Union Pacific the morning after we arrived. Sorry that he is not in any of my pictures. Samantha took us to the nearby Mojave airport to look at old planes hangared there. The ones which are flyable sometimes are rented to movie and commercial makers.

French two place trainer jet.

Great-granddaughter Tabithia in the French jet

“Mighty Mite” Jeep. Its aluminum body makes it light enough to be transported by helicopter!

Samantha and great-grandson Luke, now 13 and taller than his mother!

Me, Luke and Samantha. I sill have the facial hair started in the rafting trip down the Grand Canyon.

My two great-granddaughters are just 1 1/2 years apart , but Tabitha, the younger, is almost as tall as her sister, Ivy. Ivy is sitting on Luke’s lap here.

GARDEN RAILROAD IN LAS VEGAS

We left Mojave a day later than planned, leaving us with one day in Las Vegas. We hoped to visit with 4 folks there , and in one day we were able to see three! The first were our friends Ed and Shelly Clary. They moved to Henderson NV last summer from Grants Pass OR and already have their garden railroad well set up.

Narrow gauge train, with water tank, coaling tower and depot in background.

Here is the busy depot awaiting arrival of the passenger train.

Downtown of village of Pine Lake and two other views of downtown.

Here is the bait shop. The boy is displaying his latest catch. Below is hobo jungle and next is the farm..

Rhonda was my legal secretary for almost 9 years in Phoenix before she moved to Las Vegas. We were glad that she was able to visit us in our motor home parked at Sam’s Club.

JANUARY TRIP TO INDIO CA FOR REGIONAL FMCA RALLY WITH GOLDEN SPIKE CHAPTER, PLUS VISIT TO PALM SPRINGS TRAMWAY

2012-02-09T12:35:00.001-08:00

For 11 of the past 12 years I have attended the Indio regional Family Motor Coach Association rally. Jo has attended all of them since we were married. Our Golden Spike chapter parks together and we treat the rally as one of our chapter rallies with our own events interspersed with events of the main rally. For better coverage of the rally, you can look at the blogs in early January done by a member of our Golden Spike group, at http://travelbychance.blogspot.com

On Sunday Jan. 8 chapter members gathered at the parking lot of the closed Sams Club in LaQuinta about 3 miles from the Indio fairgrounds where the rally is held. We gathered so that we could arrive as a group Monday morning and be parked together. We were given extra space for holding our chapter events in the midst of all of our parked motor homes.

After parking our motor home Monday morning and setting up, Jo and I set off for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, perhaps a 30 minute drive from Indio. It was completed in 1963. The parking lots are just off I10 a few miles up Chino Canyon. Here we had just started up the tram. Neither of us had ridden it before. We highly recommend it!

There are five towers from which the cables are suspended. In passing each one to car swings back and forth a bit. The car takes its passengers from about 2600 ft. to 8500 ft.(a little over a vertical mile!) in 10 minutes!

The views from the top are spectacular, especially on a clear day such as we enjoyed. Below, Palm Springs is in the Cochella valley foreground and Indio is in the far right distance.

A great view of the wind turbines lined up to generate electricity in the windy pass.

There was snow at the top, but we nevertheless took a 3/4 mile walk along Long Valley.

Jo enjoyed a bit of a rest along the trail while waiting for me to catch up. The sudden change in elevation made walking uphill a challenge because of my mild COPD.

On the way down I caught the other car coming up. The cars are quite new and most of the car rotates as they go up and down, except for a few feet in the center where the operator is stationed.

As we were coming down afternoon shadows highlighted the topography of the surrounding mountainous area.

Our group gathered at all hours for camaraderie . My railroad lantern adds to the illumination behind the white bowl.

Bob and Dottie Poole were given a cake in recognition of their 50thweddding anniversary.

About 35 members of our group are gathered in front of a mural in the auditorium building. Jo and I are near the far right. This usually is our Golden Spike Chapter’s largest rally during the year.

Here is a daytime view of our socializing area. We had two group meals here, with a few happy hours, too!

One of our chapter’s jobs at the rally is to distribute ice cream bars for ice cream socials at noon on Friday and Saturday. We enjoy making so many people happy. We gave out over 5000 ice cream bars in the two days.

Of course, the ladies handing out ice cream bars require supervision!

Here are just a few of the motor homes lined up for display and sale at the rally. Many of them this year were used top-of-the-line models, with pricing accordingly!

OUR DECEMBER ACTIVITIES

2012-02-09T11:54:00.001-08:00

I have fallen a bit behind in blogging, but I will catch up in the next few days. Stay Tuned!

I went to a Phoenix Suns basketball game and tried natural light photography from our seats with a Cannon A1100 IS point and shoot digital camera. It has no sports setting, so there always a little delay between pressing the shutter button all the way down and the camera actually capturing the image. I set the camera to a mild telephoto and kept the shutter button pressed half way down to have it focused when and where I expected the action to be. These are some of the better shots I made. It helped that our seats were in row 9!

Outlet pass after a rebound. The passer is Channing Frye, with center Marcin Gortat beginning to run and all-star guard Steve Nash at the far right.

The shooter here is somewhat fuzzy (38 year old Grant Hill?), with Gortat in front of him and no. 3 Jared Dudley with his back to us.

Here the second unit is on the floor. Guard Sebastian Telfair just slammed the ball while our no 1 draft pick, no. 11, Markieff Morris starts back down the floor. He is showing skills which make me think that he will be an excellent player in a year or two. The player at the free throw line is our tallest center Robin Lopez. Guard Shannon Brown is at the far right.

I have no idea who put up this long shot, perhaps a three pointer. Morris in the center is “boxing out” an opponent to deter him from getting the rebound in case the shot is missed. Who says that basketball is not a contact sport! It is late in the game and the Suns are behind, so the second unit is getting more than its usual floor time.

Late in the game with the Suns behind, the crowd has started to leak out! Telfair is shooting a free throw.

Lopez’s free throw is in the air and two Sixers are boxing out Hakim Warrick to keep him from getting a rebound if the shot is missed.

This is a bit fuzzy, but Telfair is just launching a jump shot, with Lopez cutting toward the basket looking for a rebound if the shot is missed and Warrick is looking on.

My son Monty and Jo by our Christmas tree. Monty loves to sing Karaoke and perhaps is dressed up to go out to sing. Audiences really appreciate him.

JEEPERS CREEPERS OUTING DEC. 08, 2011

2011-12-10T15:42:00.001-08:00

Jo and I led this Jeepers Creepers trip through high desert on the Bloody Basin road from I 17 southeast to the Camp Creek road and south to Seven Springs and Carefree/Cave Creek. We originally planned to take the “Back Way to Mt. Lemmon” on the Oracle Control Road, but winter storms just before the outing caused the Forest Service to close that road.

There were 4 Jeeps carrying 11 members and guests on this trip. We assembled at the Superstition Springs Dillards store, as usual, and our first comfort stop was the Chevron station on Anthem Way.

Our coffee stop was at the Sunset Point rest stop. The cold travelers, left to right, are Steve and Linda Robertson, Jo Strong, Marv Jeck, Edna Julien, Marsha Jeck, Mike and Barb Williams, and Tom and Elsie Holz.

The Bloody Basin road is well-graded in the northern part through the Agua Fria National Monument. There were remnants of snow in the sheltered areas as we wound down to the dry crossing of the Agua Fria River.

We had a fire at the lunch stop for cooking the tube steaks.

With our efficient crew, it takes little time to set up the serving tables and chairs for our lunch. The food was great!

We took the 3.5 mile side trip to the top of Humboldt Mtn, el. 5000, to the FAA control facility at its top.

FAA dome and warning sign at the very top of Humboldt Mtn.

We are looking down at what would be Horseshoe Lake on the Verde River if there was water behind the dam. Yes, that is snow on the peaks on the skyline.

The blue in the bottom of the canyon is the Verde River, with Four Peaks at the far right top

More rugged country lies southeast of the facility. Four Peaks is far left and Weavers Needle in the Superstitions is skylined at the far right.

The trail leaders – yes, I still have the facial hair begun in July on the Colorado River!

Our last stop was the Sears-Kay Hohokam ruins near Carefree. The hilltop village was inhabited from 1200 to 1350 and the rock walls have been restacked. This was a one room structure. Only Jo and I did the 1 mile round trip hike to see the ruins.

This is the remains of another one room structure adjacent to the one shown above.,

This was a central courtyard serving two rooms.

Although were no really challenging 4 wheel drive roads on this trip, we all enjoyed the scenery on a clear winter day in Arizona. Most of us had not previously visited either of our stops.

We concluded the day with a glass of wine at the Williams home.

JEEPERS CREEPERS NOV 10, 2011 OUTING

2011-11-12T14:14:00.001-08:00

Eighteen members and guests in 7 vehicles made the first Jeepers Creepers run of the season on Nov. 10. We met at Dillards parking lot at Superstition Springs Mall and after introductions set off for Miami for our coffee break in the city park. Our leader, Jerry Grout, claimed that he had arranged for some Gila County trusties to clean up the park for us, and they were hard at work when we arrived.

Thirteen of our our group at the Miami coffee break – Marv Fretwell. Marv’s cousin, Gregory Planting, Skeet and Roxanne White , Arda Fretwell, Jerry Grout, Barbara Williams, Mike Williams, Jo Strong, Nancy Grout, Edna Julien, Elsie Tennant (guest of Grouts) and Gary Mueller.

Look at all of the goodies! Austin and Mary Ellen Hulcher are in center and Rayma and Gary Mueller are at right.

Members are enjoying the great views of Lake Roosevelt and nearby mountains at the end of FR 488 off the Young road (AZ 288) . There is snow on Four Peaks at right. Is that Phil Goddard at right?

Here is our lunch spread, with Fretwells and Whites in foreground, Fretwells’ dually pickup and Sierra Ancha Mountains in the background

Barbara Williams, Jo Strong, Elsie Tennant and Mary Ellen Hulcher, with some our our vehicles and the Sierra Ancha Wilderness area in the background.

Roxanna White and Arda Fretwell while lunching had a great view of the upper reaches of Lake Roosevelt where the Salt River enters the lake are shown in center.

This rugged side canyon defined one side of our plateau

High desert scrub frames our view of the lake and Four Peaks.

After lunch we drove north on the Young Road and turned east on the Malicious Gap Road, FR 609, to visit the cave close to the road. Unfortunately, although several of us had been there in the past (December 2005), we could not locate it. We headed back to Mesa the way we came. The Fretwell group detoured to Ma’s Kitchen in Roosevelt for fish and chips (highly recommended by Marv), while others ended up having supper at Uncle Bear’s in Mesa.

VISIT TO ALGODONES MX

2011-11-05T20:43:00.001-07:00

We make a “drug run” to Algodones MX nearly every year to buy omyeprazol (Mexican Prilosec). A three month supply of the latter in the US costs about $75.00 if you take one a day. The Mexican version of the same drug for the same three month supply is $3.00. Both of us take it for acid reflux, as do several relatives. Other border cities do not sell the medication nearly as reasonably, and we feel comfortable walking around in the downtown area. While it has usual features of a Mexican tourist town with liquor stores, bars and a few strip joints, it is unique for having so many pharmacies and dentists. Here is the pictorial story of our visit on Nov. 3.

Jo and son Jeff next to our Jeep in the parking lot on the US side of the border, a short walk from downtown Algodones

This is the first view as you walk across the border. The billboards advertise primarily dental services.Our favorite pharmacy (named Guadalajara) is on the far left.

Algodones is a little over 200 miles from Mesa, so our first order of business is lunch at Pueblo Viejo. From left, Tom Holz, Jeff Clyde, Monty Strong, Jo, Elsie Holz ,and Mike Williams.

Here we are a at lunch. Barbara Williams at far right did not get in the picture of our group outside.

Our next order of business is to buy our medications. Experience has shown us that this store has the best prices!
The meds available over the the counter there include most generics here , some older antibiotics, and exclude painkillers and those which may be habit-forming. Some specialized meds are not available, and non-generics are available but not with such dramatic savings as on omyrprazol.

One of many signs for dental services. Our acquaintances who have gone to dentists there are favorably impressed with the prices and have no complaints. On the other hand, I have heard third-hand stories of dental patients who are not happy with the work done by an Algodones dentist.

This dental office is adjacent to the Hawaii strip joint

Does your dentist offer all of these services?

Here is an all-purpose building – a pharmacy on the ground floor with many dental offices above, one specifically for Japanese!

Some of the many liquor stores.

There are also many optical stores there, some promising same day delivery of glasses

This display is in a shop specializing in colorful sheet metal sculptures.

A unique cottage industry, on a main street corner, is artists painting designs on pots, lanterns, mail boxes and whatever, using paint from aerosol paint containers, all without brushes!.

This artist, shown in the upper left of the above shot, shows the mailbox nearly completed.

GRAND CANYON FROM THE TOP plus aerial views of two large lakes near Phoenix

2011-10-16T20:25:00.001-07:00

The last part of our 9000 mile, 5 month trip was to meet Jo’s son Jeff, sister Barbara, husband Mike, niece Laura and grandniece Katie at Grand Canyon for 3 days. I had not visited the South Rim for many years.

This is from the Desert View observation point, the easternmost in the Grand Canyon National Park. In the background is the stretch of the Colorado River from which we could see the south rim when rafting. It is just downstream from where the Little Colorado joins the Colorado.

hShadows cast by clouds help to give a better idea of the vastness of the canyon.

Jo at another observation point.

Here is part of the trail taken by those who prefer to ride the mules every day to the point overlooking the river. The wooded area is Indian Gardens

Elk wander freely in the park. The bull keeping track of his harem is at the far left.

The thunderstorm is over the North Rim.

Here is most of our party at Hermit’s Rest, the westernmost observation point in the park: Jo, Jeff, Laura, Barbara and Mike.

Soft morning light also helps to show depth in the photos. Here the camera is pointed at the area where the two passenger jets went down which collided in midair over the canyon in 1956 .

Jo and I had a nice flight with Jerry and Nancy Grout on Oct. 15. Here is part of Lake Roosevelt from the air. The light area in the foreground is a reflection from the plane’s window.

Saguaro Lake, with the dam creating it in the middle left. Saguaro is the lake on the Salt River chain of lakes closest to the metropolitan area. Sorry about the reflections, but at 150 mph it is not safe to open the plane’s door for an unobstructed view!

SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS –YANKEE BOY BASIN

2011-10-16T20:06:00.001-07:00

From Breckenridge, we journeyed southwest to the San Juan Mountains, which I have visited 32 of the last 33 years. This year we camped at Ridgway State Park as it was convenient for visiting friends. Beside, I prefer to avoid driving the motor home up the Million Dollar Highway in Uncompaghre Canyon and over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton.

The aspens were beginning to turn color at Silverton – the D&SNG tracks are in the foreground.

How is this for dramatic color?

Here is more beginnings of “color” at Silverton.

This is a “one of a kind” observation car used on the D&SNG we saw at Silverton.

We are near Ouray, on our way up Yankee Boy Basin road with Jerry and Jill Wedlake.

The aspens are just starting to turn in the lower part of Yankee Boy.

Mill and tailings from the Yankee Boy road.

If you look closely, here are the twin water falls shown on Coors beer labels.

Here we are around timberline on our beautiful day of 4 wheeling.

Yes, that is our road in the lower right!

This is the trailhead near the end of Yankee Boy, elevation 12,500 ft. Our Jeep climbed it without any problem. Jo Jill and Jerry are next to our Jeep.

BRECKENRIDGE 4 WHEELERS RALLY PART 1

2011-09-29T21:07:00.001-07:00

THE RALLY

We enjoyed the week of Sept. 18 – 25 attending a rally of the Family Motor Coach 4 Wheelers in a very nice RV park in Breckenridge CO. It was the group’s first rally there, but advance scouting and creating GPS tracks resulted in many trails being planned for the approximately 80 people attending. Before the rally began, the weather was cool and rainy, with some snow dusting the higher peaks. The aspens just began to turn yellow early in the week, but as it progressed more turned yellow and some even orange tinted.

The unusual cloud at the right suggests to me that a snow squall may be going on. The picture was taken looking north from Hoosier Pass.

This Jeep has run Rubicon, about the most difficult trail in the West.

The owners of these Jeeps were just bragging!

This lineup is more typical of the Jeeps driven by those attending. There also were some very Plain Jane Jeeps in the group, as well as a handful of Grand Cherokees such as ours.

OUR FIRST DAY’S RUN

Our first run was up Peru Creek to the ruins if the Pennsylvania mill, with corresponding mine up the mountain. Below are parts of the machinery still at the mill ruins.

The whitish line in the upper left is the Argentine wagon road. It has been closed many years due to slides blocking the road. One can nearly get up to the pass from the other side.

Lunch time on the ridge of Glacier Mountain

Here is our road running the top of Glacier Mountain. We are above timber line, maybe around 12,000 ft.

Here is our little caravan making the run. Ours is the third vehicle. Lifting it 2 inches and putting on taller all terrain tires (it is otherwise a stock vehicle as it came from the factory) have helped its performance remarkably, as well as boosting my confidence considerably! Note the dusting of snow on the far peaks.

Our descent from Glacier Mountain was down the canyon of the North Fork of the Swan River. (Sorry that the dating system in the camera suddenly became a day fast!)

The most challenging part of the run was descending the right fork of the Y of the road nearly on the horizon to get into the valley of the North Fork of the Swan River.

BRECKENRIDGE 4 WHEELERS RALLY PART 2 BOREAS PASS, COMO ROUNDHOUSE and SOUTH PARK CITY MUSEUM

2011-09-29T20:58:00.001-07:00

Jo and I were the leaders of this History Trail run on Sept. 21. We only had three Jeeps, perhaps because the run easily could be made in a passenger car. I gave as much historical information to the pass as I could. Boreas Pass was used by the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad’s Highline to connect Leadville and Denver, beating the Denver & Rio Grande to the lucrative market during the Leadville boom.

At the Breckenridge end of the pass road was a static display of this rotary snow remover and its tender. It has a steam engine on board, but all it is used for is powering the rotary blades. It is pushed by steam engines in removing deep snow from the tracks.

Many of the Breckenridge ski runs are seen from the Boreas Pass road.

On the way up we paused at the Baker Tank, one of three tanks originally on the pass.

Section house and other buildings at the pass. The two larger buildings have been restored and are available for rent by skiers in the winter. The building at the rear is a comfort station.

This is the remains of the collapsed stone engine house which contained a water tub for the thirsty locomotives and a turntable in the building to turn the steam engines. (They performed better going nose first than in reverse, tender first.)

Looking down in the pit for the turntable. Turntables almost always are located outside of buildings, but it probably was built inside the engine house to make it easier to turn them in the deep snows found at this high pass (almost 11,500 ft. elevation).

View from the section house of the pass area, with the engine house ruins at the right of the boxcar.

Part way down on the south side of the pass the road deviates from the old railroad bed, and visitors are encouraged to walk out to Rocky Point on the old roadbed. A few panels of narrow gauge track have been re-laid on the path

From the Boreas Pass road one looks down the large valley named South Park,. The South Platte River heads in the valley.

Here the automobile road runs on top of the old railroad bed, with gentle curves and modest changes in elevation. The aspens were just beginning to be colorful.

More aspens are turning in the valley

At the south end of the pass is the burg of Como, consisting of a few homes, abandoned buildings, a hotel with a lunch room (where we ate lunch), the depot and the six bay stone part of the Roundhouse . In the heyday of the railroad wood additions were built on one end of the roundhouse, now long gone. The roundhouse slowly is being restored, with more work being done every time a grant can be found.

A turntable has been placed on the ground in the turntable pit.

Half of the existing bays are see here. Stabilization of the outside of the building and the roof has been completed. We were honored to have a tour of the roundhouse led by Bob Schoppe, the president of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Historical Society. It is undertaking the restoration of the Como depot. The current pride and joy of the Society is a boxcar delivered to the DSP&P about 1880. It is stored in the roundhouse awaiting restoration. A restoration survey has been completed so work wan begin when funds become available. The State Historical Fund receives money from gambling taxes which has funded many railroad projects.

We wrapped up the day by a visit to the South Park City museum in Fairplay. It consists of 40 historical buildings, some on their original foundations, depicting life in local towns about 1900. Included were a few homes, a dentist’s office, a doctor’s office, a general store, a pharmacy, mine, brewery, livery, church, rail yard, etc. It is very much worth a visit.

Jo could not resist playing fireman!

BRECKENRIDGE 4 WHEELERS RALLY PART 3 EMPIRE RESERVOIR AND WESTON PASS

2011-09-29T20:52:00.001-07:00

Our run Sept. 23 took highways to Leadville, then up California Gulch to Empire Reservoir nearly at timber line. Next we dropped back into the Arkansas River valley to catch the Weston Pass road back toward Fairplay, and after gong over Hoosier Pass, retuning to the RV park at Breckenridge.

Empire Reservoir, probably developed for a water source for mining or milling activities.

What a view these beavers have!

Great shots of changing fall colors. The orangish color is particularly impressive.

From the high ridge along which we drove we had great views of the Arkansas River valley, Leadville and Turquoise Lake .

From high above timberline, the Weston Pass road winds in the distance.

Our lunch stop on the way down from the ridge to the Arkansas Valley.

The aspens here are behind those shown above.

The Weston Pass road was popular for wagons to use to reach Leadville as (at 11,921 ft.) it was lower than other nearby passes and easier to go over. Parts were toll roads for years. I drove up the west side nearly to the top in 2 wheel high range and shifted into 4 low range near the top for going over rocks and for deceleration going down the east side.

BRECKENRIDGE 4 WHEELERS RALLY PART 4 TARRYALL VALLEY AND ELEVEN MILE CANYON

2011-09-29T20:48:00.001-07:00

This run was on the last day of the rally, billed as a Ladies Run. Most ladies shared driving with their male passengers but Jo declined. It was a long run, perhaps 175 miles, but most were on pavement. We headed south east from US 285 at Jefferson following the beautiful Tarryall Creek. In the canyon bottom ranchers were harvesting hay against a backdrop of granite mountains. We reached the village of Tarryall to take an interesting 4 wd circle road known as the China Wall. Our modified Jeep took the challenges of the road well.

The spillway from the Lake George reservoir was routed to appear as a natural watercourse.

The standard gauge Colorado Midland, “Colorado’s Honorary Narrow Gauge Railroad” built up Eleven Mile Canyon winding its way to Leadville and Aspen. Shown are two of the three tunnels used to get up the canyon. This county road is built on its roadbed.

Here is another of the railroad tunnels.

The Midland’s roadbed had a lot of rocky terrain to go through.

Fishing was a popular pastime on the South Platte River forming the canyon. The fisherman is in the lower right corner.

Our road (on the railroad roadbed) ended at the dam creating the Eleven Mile Canyon Reservoir.

GOLDEN CO AND VICINITY

2011-09-17T19:23:00.001-07:00

We parked the RV in the northwest Denver area at Westminster Elks Lodge fine RV parking area. They have developed 40 spaces for RVs, ranging in hookups from electric only to full hookups including 50 amp electric. From there we visited many people and places in the Denver area. One day we went to the Colorado Railroad Museum, followed by lunch in Golden and a visit to the Coors Brewery’ hospitality room. Downtown Golden was the most photogenic

Golden’s downtown was busy, with no vacant stores. Beside being home to the original Coors brewery, the Colorado School of Mines is in Golden, accounting for the many young people we saw. Golden was the first capitol of Colorado.

There is lots of statuary in downtown Golden. Adolph Coors is next to Jo.

Here a boy is helping his sister mount a patient horse.

This prospector must have just found a nice gold nugget. Even his burro is celebrating!

We had to stand in the busy street for a passerby who insisted that we both be in the picture he took .

This statue shows what a cowboy does on his day off – he goes fly fishing! The trout is in the lower right corner.

This small brewing kettle greets visitors to the Coors brewery. I was surprised to learn that Coors and Miller have a joint venture whereby Miller beers are brewed in this brewery while Coors products are brewed in Miller breweries. Formerly, all Coors products were made in this facility.

We had a great visit with cousin “Birchie” Wilson in her very nice assisted living facility. Her mother and my farther were cousins and we visit her whenever we are in the Denver area.

Birchie is going strong at 88!

FT. BRIDGER MOUNTAIN MAN RENDEZVOUS

2011-09-10T20:09:00.001-07:00

Jerry and Nancy Grout flew us to Ft. Bridger WY to take in their annual Mountain Man Rendezvous on the Labor Day weekend. It is the second largest event in Wyoming, after the Cheyenne Frontier days. While no historical Mountain Man Rendezvous were held at Ft. Bridger, many were held within 100 miles of here. The festivities are held at the Wyoming Fort Bridger State Historical Site just off I 80.

I have some interest in the Mountain Man era as one of the more noted ones was Jedediah Strong Smith, about a 17th cousin to me.

Jo and Nancy tired on fur hats. At $80 each, it was “No Sale”.

Some of those attending wore period costumes. This lady is participating in a frying pan throwing contest. Some attendees brought their own teepees to camp in during the long weekend.

There must have been well over 100 vendors tents.

AIRSHOW AT HEBER CITY UT AIRPORT

2011-09-10T20:04:00.001-07:00

On Sept. 3 our hosts, Jerry and Nancy Grout, flew us in their Beechcraft Bonanza plane from Ogden UT to an air show in nearby Heber City. Here are some of the unusual planes there.

Our party near a Chinese trainer.

Jerry Grout admiring the painting on the aircraft.

This experimental pusher plane has its main wing near the rear.

When the pilot is out of the plane, the front landing gear is retracted so it will rest on its nose rather than on the heavy engine at the rear.

Here is another pusher plane in the experimental class. It can be built from a kit of parts or, at a higher price, a kit with many parts pre-assembled.

Here is a nicely painted aerobatic plane. This model can be configured as a one seater or as a two seater.

This plane, used as an advanced trainer by a nearby flying school, is powered by two diesel fueled engines. While there were no examples at the show, I learned that some airplanes are powered by electricity from batteries.

This is a basket case project – an Antonov AN-2 single engine plane built in Russia and used as a workhorse for agriculture and mining. It is a biplane with the upper wing attached to the top of the fuselage. The group rebuilding it has all of the main parts, and the next phase is to rebuild the motor.

Luscombe Silvare, the first plane in which I had a ride when I was 5 or 6 years old.

This is a Cessna which has been modified by removing the piston engine and extending the nose to accommodate a turbine engine powered by jet fuel.

We are in front of our hosts’ Bonanza upon our return to the Ogden airport.

NEVADA SCENIC BYWAYS – ANGEL LAKE NEAR WELLS

2011-09-10T19:57:00.001-07:00

A nice day trip from Wells NV is a trip on a paved up to Angel Lake, elevation about 8400 ft. Two ladies were trout fishing there when we arrived on Aug. 31. These pictures were taken in the Canon Power Shot S2 IS 5 mp. digital camera with a 12 x optical zoom lens. In some pictures of the waterfall it was in extreme telephoto.

The waterfall in the stream which feeds the lake is slightly right of center in the dark area, up from the greenery on the edge of the lake. Yes, those are snowfields in the upper left remaining on August 31.

Another side of the lake. A foot trail goes up from right to left.

Jo wanted to get a closer view of the waterfall, so we followed a trail and after scrambling over a few rocks a good path led us toward it.

For you camera buffs, this is an extreme telephoto shot of the falls taken from the same spot as the above picture.

A less extreme shot of the waterfall, probably better than the above!

Jo and other great scenery

Right side of the valley. Is there a geological name for the spires at the top of the ridge?

View of the lake from above it, showing the valleys below and our footpath. My COPD prevented us from going further up the valley above the lake. It was an ideal day for a the short hike we took.

NEVADA SCENIC BYWAYS – LAMOILE CANYON AND METROPOLIS (Elko and Wells NV)

2011-09-10T19:51:00.001-07:00

Lamoile Canyon is near Elko NV and is reached by a paved road. It ends with a traffic loop at about 8500 ft. Several hiking trails radiate out from the loop. Even in late August many snowfields remain from last winter. It is in the Ruby Mountain range.

The bare rock in the center is smooth, evidence that a glacier had passed down the valley. Information on the road side signs indicates that more than one glacier scoured the valley.

View down the valley from the picnic area where we lunched..

The stream is fed by melting snow from the peaks.

The sky was a dark blue, contrasting with the aspen trees. One never sees the sky this blue at lower elevations or in cities.

This is a side valley to the main valley, showing the classical signs of past glaciations.

METROLPOLIS GHOST TOWN NEAR WELLS NV

In the early 1900s developers bought a large cattle ranch near Wells NV, laid out a townsite, built a dam for irrigation water impoundment and began recruiting people to buy farm land to be irrigated by the impounded water. The developers built a 50 room 3 story hotel and an imposing 3 story school. Buyers flocked there. A railroad spur was built by the Southern Pacific to serve the new city. But the developers did not secure the water rights, and downstream landowners successfully sued to protect their older water rights. Without adequate irrigation water, the venture failed, leaving behind the ruins of large buildings built to serve the populace of the city. Most ghost towns were centered on mining. But this ghost town was centered on agriculture.

Visiting the site is a challenge as no good maps are readily available to tourists from the Wells Visitor Center nor the Forest Service office in town. The roads to get there are paved for the most part,and the gravel roads are smooth enough to drive 35 to 40. However,the school entrance and the higher parts of the ruined hotel are visible from county roads.

Imposing entrance to the 3 story school.

Here is the basement of the 50 room hotel. It reminded me of the ruins of Roman Baths in Europe but in a much different setting!

Here is the rather permanent sign for the Metropolis main cemetery. On the post at the right is a list of names of those buried there and the location of their graves. We found the cemetery by standing on the first floor of he school and looking around for unusual things. The dark green bush in upper right center was our clue that there might be something of interest nearby.

The cemetery is not well maintained, but it is still being used as we noticed a headstone for someone who died in 2009. Jo noticed animal holes with entrances a least 8 “ in diameter.

NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM Reno NV

2011-08-31T20:19:00.001-07:00

We spent several hours in the National Automobile Museum in Reno, looking at their fine collection of 225 vehicles. They range in year of manufacture from 1892 to 1980. About 25% are one of a kind or of a few known to exist. There were customized cars and vehicles belonging to celebrities – Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Elvis, John F. Kennedy, John Wayne, Bing Crosby, etc. The mildly customized 49 Mercury used in James Dean’s last movie is there.

The heart of the collection (125 cars) comes from William Harrah’s vast collection; the non-profit which now owns them has added about 100. Included are racing cars made for Indy, Baja 1000, Bonneville Salt Flats, and Grand Prix, plus dragsters, funny cars, and midgets. Placards with each of the cars gave their history and special characteristics. One will not find a copy of Uncle Dick’s Oldsmobile here, nor of any of the more prosaic cars I have owned.

Here are a few of the cars which struck my fancy enough to take pictures of them. Enjoy!

The first car displayed to those entering the museum is this customized 1938 Cord named the Phantom Corsair designed by and built for a member of the Heinz family. It seats four across in the front seat with two more facing the rear with their backs to the back of the front seat. Reportedly it could do 115 mph!

Many additional gauges were added to the dashboard.

General view of one of the four main display galleries. I was amazed by the sheer bulk of the early luxury cars. The practice was for the luxury automobile builder to provide just the platform (drive train, frame etc.) and for the body to be made by a separate coach builder. Remember Cadillac's advertising “Body by Fisher”? Cars displayed used gasoline, diesel, steam, electricity and turbines for power.

Early Ford Model T roadster.

The only car we were allowed to touch was this model T coupe

Model T motor home! Lots of special bodies could be bought for both the Ts and As.

Customized 1939 Ford Coupe. If memory serves correctly,this was owned by Sammy Davis Jr.

Vehicles specially built to run in the Baja 1000. No 10 is a Volkswagen.

This 1907 Thomas Flyer is one of the icons of the museum. It was the only US made car in the1908 race from New York to Paris, crossing North America, Asia (Siberia) and Europe. This car won the race. It was authenticated by the chief driver after Mr. Harrah bought it. It was restored in his restoration shop to its condition at the end of the race.

Newest car at the museum, a 1980 Delorean, gold plated. Jo especially enjoyed seeing a Delorean as she has ridden in one.

Reno, Sparks and Virginia City

2011-08-31T20:09:00.001-07:00

After leaving the Pacific coast, our path took us to Reno, Sparks and Virginia City, NV. We spent a couple of days more there than anticipated as the motor home radiator required removal and steam cleaning to stop overheating. The main cause of the problem was that the crankcase breather tube emissions had never been rerouted so that they would not blow back on the rear radiator, despite extensive warranty repairs where the factory defect should have been corrected.

Reno and Sparks from the road between Reno and Virginia City.

Old Timer is Virginia City

(I did not hide behind the cutout very well!)

Street scenes in touristy Virginia City. It really is well worth the time to visit.

Lots of gold and silver was mined beneath the nearby hills of the Comstock Lode. I was told by a lady in the mining museum that a gold mining operation was soon to be opened nearby. With the current price of gold, ore bodies formerly uneconomic now economically can be mined.

Two tourist trains now are operated by the standard gauge Virginia & Truckee RR. One provides a ride of 35 minutes round trip using an old diesel switcher with 7 trips a day. The other is a daily train Thurs. – Sun from Carson City to Virginia City and back after a layover of 3.5 hr. in Virginia City. It is powered by a diesel locomotive on Thursdays and Fridays and a steam locomotive Saturdays.and Sundays. The longer ride takes about 1.5 hr. each way.

The city museum in Sparks has nice displays on the Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) facilities in Sparks. Other displays show artifacts of historic daily life in Sparks. (Sparks is named for an early governor of Nevada.)

VISIT TO HARRY AND DAVID’S FACILITY IN MEDFORD OR

2011-08-30T20:42:00.001-07:00

One of the major suppliers of gift boxes of goodies often given at holidays is Harry and David’s. The corporation has over 100 retail stores in the US, but the majority of annual sales comes during the holidays from products prepared at its sprawling Medford facility. Their pears and peaches also are grown there. Visitors gather at the Harry and David’s Country Store in Medford and then are bussed to the buildings where the products are made and assembled. The store sells wine, cooking accessories, candy, nuts, fresh fruit and bakery items. The factory was just beginning to ramp up production when we visited in early August with the peach crop beginning to come in.

On this line baskets are being filled by hand with non-perishable items to be boxed and then kept in storage for seasonal sales.

Liquid ingredients, including butter, are added to this large pot, heated, and pop corn is mixed in to make caramel corn they call Moose Munch. We enjoyed a bag bought in the retail store!

The line at the right is carrying peaches just harvested for sizing according to weight before being packed in the boxes The foam carriers go in the boxes, and their hole patterns are different for the various sized peaches. We saw two workers manning each of the horizontal lines in use here. What a labor intensive process!

Here truffles are receiving their chocolate covering.

Candy is being hand packed into boxes. Workers cannot sample products on the line. Rejects are taken to the lunch rooms for consumption. Unfortunately, visitors touring the plant are not invited into the lunchrooms!

The bulk chocolate tanker is being unloaded at the candy plant.

In the bakery the line in the foreground is assembling baklava, and fruit cakes are being prepared for the oven in the line in for background. No fruit cakes were available for sale in the retail store when we were there.

Members of the tour group receive goodie boxes at the end of the tour.

OUR ADVENTURES SOUTH OF SEATTLE

2011-08-30T20:35:00.001-07:00

After disembarking from the cruise ship in Seattle, our first stop was at Fall City WA to resupply the motor home for our travels south and east. Fall City is named for falls in the Snoqualmie River, so we visited the site. They are said to be 100 feet higher than Niagara, and they were impressive. Some of the water is diverted to power two historic electrical generating stations operated by Puget Sound Energy so the falls would be even more impressive with a greater flow.

Or next stop was at Ilwaco WA, on the north side of the Columbia River.The Corps of Discovery led by Lewis & Clark first saw the Pacific Ocean near Disappointment Cape. Clark’s journal spoke of him leading a small group up the beach on the Pacific Ocean a few miles north. In walking on the beach near Long Beach WA we found this replica of the tree Clark mentioned that he inscribed on the side trip.

Lighthouse on Cape Disappointment taken from walk in front of Washington State Museum focusing on the Lewis & Clark expedition’s travels along the Columbia River and winter stay near Astoria on the south bank. High ground on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia might be seen through the coastal clouds.

We had a nice stay at an RV park three miles from the Pacific along the Siletz River near Lincoln City OR. The salmon run was just starting up the river, but in 7 hours fishing from one of these docks I did not even get a bite!

Our next stop was at Crescent City CA in the Redwood country. We took a nice ride a few miles from the ocean up the Smith River, named for mountain man Jedediah Strong Smith.”Cousin Jedediah” and I share a common ancestor who migrated to America in 1630. Nearby is Jedediah Smith State Park featuring stands of old growth redwoods.

At Crescent City we visited with an old friend and client, Carole Schmieder, left, and her daughter Susan, who was in Girl Scouts with my daughter in grade school. The lady on the far right is their visitor from the Phoenix area. Carole maintains a beautiful summer home here.

On this typically cloudy day on the beach we enjoyed a fire made mainly from driftwood, flying kites and making (and eating with relish) Smores! We did not forget the hotdogs, either.

Driving south on US 101 we found many views like this of the offshore islands. They would be much more picturesque if the marine layer lifted, but that was not to be the case for us.

ALASKA CRUISE part 1

2011-08-08T19:25:00.001-07:00

Jo and I traveled to Seattle in the motor home while Jo’s sisters Arla and Barbara, with husband Mike, flew to Seattle the day before the cruise began on July 29, 2011. The ship was Rhapsody of the Seas owned by Royal Caribbean. We stored the RV in an RV park in Bothell WA and engaged a limo to take us and the other three to Seattle’s Pier 91.

Arla, Barbara and Mike with limo driver, Steve, on way to the pier.

Seattle skyline as our ship prepares to depart.

Wide wake left by our ship as we left Seattle.

Arla, Mike, Barbara and Jo at our first happy hour on the ship

Shipboard “sale” of warm clothing around pool on a cool day! This was one of many such ”sales”.

Captain’s Reception before our first formal dinner on the ship. My facial hair was professionally trimmed just before the cruise.

Our waiter, Julius, taking order in dining room

Juneau was our first port of call. Arla and I visited Mendenhall Glacier, near Juneau, which has been receding for several years. Large waterfall is at right . The other three took a float plane ride over glaciers.

Entertainer at Juneau’s Red Dog Saloon performing original song titled “Sarah, Sarah”.

The waitress sure keeps busy at the Red Dog.

ALASKA CRUISE part 2 SKAGWAY and the WHITE PASS & YUKON RR

2011-08-08T19:17:00.001-07:00

This is the first view we get from one side of the ship tied up to the dock at Skagway. It is not really graffiti, but the painted names of the ships which have tied up there. The practice was started by the first ships to tie up to the nice dock there and the practice has become a custom. This picture was taken from deck 10 of our ship

Our first view of Skagway as we alighted from the shuttle.

Jo in the clutches of a bear at a souvenir store.

The White Pass & Yukon has built tracks right out on the dock for the convenience of passengers on the cruise ships.

The White Pass & Yukon is a 3 ft. narrow gauge railroad. Its single operating steam engine can pull only 6 cars; the two unit diesel-electric engines shown here pull 14 passenger cars. On our afternoon there we saw one train pulled by the steam locomotive and three pulled by the diesels. The diesels may have made a run earlier in the day as well. they were built in the 1950s and 1960s.

As we went up the canyon, this is our first view of the bay where the cruise ships are tied up.

The highway from White Horse, Yukon Territory, to Skagway bisects waterfalls coming off the mountain in the background,

As our train progresses to the right it will go up the side canyon and come back to the main canyon on the higher tracks shown here.

This shot is from the higher tracks shown in the last picture. An up bound train is on the lower track. On the far mountain the road to White Horse crosses the stream which is almost a continuous waterfall as it reaches the Skagway River.

At the top of the pass, just barely in Canada, the engines pass the cars to hook up to what was the rear of the train to lead us back to Skagway. Passengers flip over the backs of their seats and those on the left on the way up (the scenic side) move to the other side so those on the right on the way up can have the scenic side on the way back.

Flags flying at the border .

Abandoned trestle across Skagway River. Picture was taken from the last car on our train shown at left. The steel part of the trestle seems ok, but the wooden part is visibly in disrepair.

End of the abandoned trestle.

Nice drumhead on the last car. The Flashing Rear End Device (FRED) is above my head. It is the substitute for the caboose!

The “Cooper Girls” (Arla, Jo and Barbara) on their way back to our ship after wrapping up the day with shopping.

ALASKA CRUISE part 3 TRACY ARM and SAWYER GLACIER

2011-08-08T19:05:00.001-07:00

After leaving Skagway the ship sailed several miles south, past Juneau, and then up the Tracy Arm Fjord, also for several miles to as close as the ship safely could get to one of the two Sawyer Glaciers. I do not know if we looked at the south or the north one.

The undated pictures below were taken by a Canon Power Shot S2 IS 5 mp camera with a 12x optical zoom. The dated ones on this and other blogs were by a Canon Power Shot A1100 IS 12 mp camera.

The ship entered Tracy Arm about 5 AM. I got out on the top deck about 6 AM to find many passengers already crowding the best vantage spots. This was one of my first views of the mountains on each side of the fjord.

The deeper we went into the fjord, the more icebergs we encountered.

Most of the pieces of ice we saw were white, but a few were a deep blue.

With the last couple of turns of the fjord we were able to see more and more of the glacier.

Crowd at the front of the ship at our closest approach. Yes, it was cool that early AM!

As the day wore on we were able to see more and more of the reflection of the glacier and mountains in the water. The black object probably is an iceberg from the side of the glacier which has picked up sand and dark rock

This one shows the vivid blue of he face of the glacier. We did not see any calving - pieces breaking off and falling into the water.

A small seal rested on this iceberg.

The deep blue of this iceberg was unusual.

More blue icebergs against a backdrop of high mountains seen on the way out of Tracy Arm Fjord about 10 AM.

ALASKA CRUISE part 5 ABOUT THE SHIP

2011-08-08T18:49:00.001-07:00

Here are several pictures showing the ship , Rhapsody of the Seas, and activities. It is nearly 1000 ft. long. The officers, staff and crew number about 750. That includes a staff to make repairs while under way, such as mechanics, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters and upholsterers. I understand that they can even overhaul a diesel engine while on a cruise. Passengers can have all their meals in the main dining room, or in the buffet on deck 9. Most elect to have breakfast and lunch in the buffet and the dinner in the main dining room at either the early (6:00 PM) or late (8:30 PM) seatings. Our cruise had over 2200 passengers, including many children.

The only port in which I could take a picture of most of the ship was Victoria, and then I had to take a long walk on a breakwater.

Here is the aft of the ship. Note the float plane at left which runs a schedule between Victoria and Seattle and other destinations in the area.

The ship is registered in Nassau, Bahamas, and flies its flag.

Here we are whale watching (really!) in a lounge.

This is the main indoor swimming pool. None of our group used either pool.

Jo ordered a birthday cake for me, a bit early!

Our room steward most nights left extra towels in our stateroom arranged as animals, including a monkey, turkey, and pig

I grabbed this shot of Mike and Barbara on a formal night as the professional photographer to do their portrait was delayed in setting up his equipment

Here is the alternate menu listing low calorie courses and a few alternatives.

Sights of Deer Lodge MT

2011-07-19T20:32:00.001-07:00

Deer Lodge heavily advertises the tourist attraction of the museum in the old Montana prison, and it is a nice tour to take. We did it a few years ago. This time I got more information on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (Milwaukee Road) electric locomotive on display there and we visited the Grant-Kohrs Ranch operated by the National Park Service..

The Milwaukee Road electrified 662 miles of its track in the Northwest; it was the only western road to do so many miles. Some PRR (now AMTRAK) routes in the Northeast have been heavily electrified for years.

This electric locomotive was built by General Electric around 1948 as one of 20 for the Soviet Union. The “Cold War” resulted the locomotives not being delivered. The Milwaukee Road was able to buy 12 of them at bargain prices to use on its previously electrified Rocky Mountain Division headquartered at Deer Lodge MT. This loco, numbered E-70, was the first of the 12 delivered to the road and was used for freight hauling until it ended all electric operations in 1974. The loco ran on 3000 v dc current and was powered by 8 GE 750 motors. In “running order” it weighed over 545,000 lbs. It was cosmetically restored in 1994. It was nicknamed ‘Little Joe” after Joseph Stalin.

When we were in Deer Lodge a few years ago, the impression I got from driving by the ranch was that the historic site would be boring. But after visiting it on this trip, we both thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to future visitors. A nice feature of the site is that no admission is charged!

This is the front of the 4000 sq. ft. ranch house built by Johnny Grant in 1862. He operated a trading post on the first floor and the family lived on the second floor He is reported to have had 8 wives (from various Indian tribes) at one time! After four years he became homesick for Canada and returned there, after selling the home and ranch to Conrad Kohrs for $19,200. Mr. Kohrs then ran several butcher shops in the area.

As the Kohrs businesses (ranching, mining, banking and selling water rights) became very profitable, he had the 5,000 sq. ft. brick addition built in 1890. Electricity, central heating and hot and cold running water then were added, with air conditioning! At one time his was the largest cattle ranching operation in Montana, with herds also grazing in Canada, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. He truly was a cattle baron.

Oak wainscoting in the dining room of the new addition cost more than a whole home in Deer Lodge! The ceilings in the formal rooms were wallpapered!

Closer view of the set table. All of the furnishings of the first floor of the home are original to the home as last occupied by the Conrad Kohrs family.

New stove in the kitchen with more features than the old! The hood is unique; the heat caught was ducted to heat the second story!

Flower garden next to the house. Vegetable garden near the outbuildings. Fencing on both is to try to keep out the deer.

Rear of chuck wagon, where a docent gave us a cup of cowboy coffee and explained the history of chuck wagons and how they were used on cattle drives and when the cowboys worked on remote parts of the ranch. The cook made Arbuckle coffee and used sourdough, probably for biscuits, in serving the cowboys. I resisted the temptation to tell her of my experiences in cooking with sourdough! How is my facial hair coming?

Beaver Slide Hay Stacker used to build tall hay stacks. Loose hay is pushed by a horse- driven hay fork into a carrier (with the solid floor) at the bottom, and the carrier is pulled up the ramp by horses pulling ropes attached to the carrier. At the top the carrier is tilted to dump the hay into the top of the stack where it is spread and compacted by workers. We watched a good video showing it in use.

Snow-capped peaks add to the views from the ranch. It is a working ranch with 100 head of cattle. The last generation of the Kohrs family to operate the ranch (Conrad Kohrs Warren) sold it to the National Park Service in 1977 to preserve the ranch, its artifacts and extensive financial records from the operation of the ranch by his grandfather and great uncle. Demonstrations are given occasionally of hay cutting using Belgian horses, stacking hay with the beaver stacker, branding cattle and uses of the blacksmith shop.

If you get to Deer Lodge MT be sure to spend a few hours at this great place.

Copper Mining at Butte MT - “Richest Hill On Earth”

2011-07-19T20:17:00.001-07:00

We had a great day touring Butte Montana, especially looking into the history of copper mining there. But first we toured the old “Uptown” area. consisting of many square blocks. The older buildings, some of Victorian architecture, were made of brick, often of several stories. Most of the commercial buildings housed businesses; few were empty. The phrase “Richest Hill on Earth apparently is a nickname for Butte. It was the largest city in Montana until about 1960.

Snow capped mountains were readily seen from “uptown”.

The headframe for this old underground copper mine on a hill above the city proclaims “Mile High” and “Mile Deep” The mine yard is at 5280 ft elevation and the workings go down 5280 feet from there.

Many underground mines close to each other were converted to open pit mining beginning in 1955. The original Bradshaw pit went down 1800 ft. by 1982, when the dewatering pumps were turned off. Water from two aquifers have been filling the pit since. The water now is about 1000 ft. deep. It is so laden with metals in solution that it is a Superfund site. The deeper more dense water is being mined for copper. The water is pumped to a structure, left in contact with scrap iron, and copper precipitates on the iron. The water is pumped back into the pit. The copper concentrate is removed from the scrap iron, and the iron goes back into the cycle to capture more copper. The process yields about 20,000 pounds of copper every month!

To the far right of the picture is the Montana Resources’ current open pit operation using conventional methods. The minerals recovered are copper and molybdenum, with small amounts of silver and gold.

Wider view of the open pit walls. There was no convenient observation point to look down into the pit.

Old “Euc” mine truck displayed is much smaller that mine trucks currently being used.

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 8

2011-07-10T20:17:00.001-07:00

These are the better pictures from my third roll in the Minolta waterproof camera. (Sorry if this is posted somewhat out of order!)

I occasionally rode a rapid on the pontoon, but near the back!

Serpentine Rapid, said to be “technical” by Nate, our boatman. He turned the boat sideways with the bow pointed to the right bank to pass the series of rocks jutting out from the right bank, and once past them used the motor to avoid the rocks downstream jutting out from the left bank.

Our companion boat coming down the rapid we just completed.

We were told by Nate to wear our rain gear the morning we went through this area. He called it Icehouse Canyon due to the lack of sunlight penetrating down to the river for many miles.

Two desert bighorn sheep are right of the tallest part of the big tree. Their white rumps make them easy to pick out. We saw several of them while on the river, but only one mule deer.

This rapid was mild, so Nate allowed a few to ride on the pontoon. Note the spray.

Our companion boat just completing our last major rapid, aptly named Lava Falls. The combined drop of the upper and lower parts is 27 feet (13 for the upper and 14 for the lower). The upper is rated as a difficulty of 8 -10, the highest rated one we went over.

Lund Boat Factory and Statues in Perham MN Area

2011-07-10T20:09:00.001-07:00

Our next stop was Golden Eagle Campground near Perham MN through which we maintain our Coast To Coast membership. This is our third visit. At the suggestion of a friend, we toured the Lund Boat factory in nearby New York Mills.

The Lund Boat business was started several years ago in New York Mills. It has been acquired by Brunswick, and it has moved the production of Crestliner aluminum boats to the Lund factory. The two boats are quite similar, except Lund aluminum boats are riveted and Crestliner hulls are welded. The company recently began sending boats to dealers with engines installed and on their own trailers. It currently employs about 400 working one shift and some overtime.

We started our tour where rolls of heavy aluminum are cut with computer controlled routers into pieces needed to assemble the hulls and formed on large break machines, also computer controlled. Here they are being riveted together to form the hull.

Tracy was our guide for the plant tour. He is in charge of the “paint kitchen’ shown here, also computer controlled. Paint is mixed here and goes from the containers shown here by overhead pipes to the long paint booths where several painters spray paint the hulls.

Interior parts and assemblies are installed after strengthening members are put in the hull and foam is installed for floatation. All of the parts of the interior are brought to the boat in one large container, as are the upholstered parts in the next step.

Here is a completed “top of the line” Pro V boat completed except for adding the engine. Tracy told us that it will retail for about $65,000 including the motor and trailer. From here it is wrapped in white plastic, put on its trailer and then shipped by truck to the dealer, Lund also makes low end aluminum rowboats, with many models between the two.

A practice of municipalities and businesses in the area is to erect a statue of an animal and proclaim that is the largest in the world. Here is the turkey statue. There are many turkey barns in the area. A nearby town has a statue of a loon, a pelican, and another, of a bison.

And here is the statue of an otter, appropriately in the town of Otter Tail, County of Otter Tail. New York Mills also has a more traditional statuary park.

Eagle River WI June 28, 29

2011-07-10T19:54:00.001-07:00

From Dearborn we drove north through the center of MI to stay in the Cheboygan Walmart at the northern tip of the southern part. The next AM we crossed the Mackinac bridge on our way to Eagle River WI to visit cousins Martha and Kendrick and families. Ken gave us a nice ride on the Eagle River chain of lakes on a beautiful day, taking us down all the way to the junction of Eagle River and the Wisconsin River.

Cousin Ken driving his boat for our long ride.

Nicest boathouse on this lake. Linda Strong is at right.

Jo loved the ride.

We had lunch at the Chanticleer Inn on the channel connecting two of the lakes. My facial hair is flourishing! ( I am afraid that my belly is also.)

One of two Bald Eagles we saw.

After seeing cousin AJ and husband Morry in Minnetonka MN, we visited Joann and Orlando Klassen at their farmstead in southern MN. We continued our happy hour tradition there which we enjoy in Mesa in the winters where the Klassens have a home in our subdivision.

Greenfield Village June 24

2011-07-10T19:48:00.001-07:00

Henry Ford founded Greenfield Village as a school for local children. He moved a few historically significant buildings to the site. The public became curious, so it was opened for tours. I have the impression that it is continually being expanded, and there is room on the site for further expansion.

The first attraction upon entering Greenfield Village is the steam powered train carrying passengers around the perimeter of the park.This locomotive is over 150 years old.

Couch in parlor of the home in which Henry Ford was raised, moved just a few miles from its original site. Lucy was given a similar couch which we used for 35 years before she sold it to an antique dealer.

Jo and I had lunch in the Eagle Tavern, built in 1831 in nearby Clinton MI and moved to Greenfield Village in 1929 for use as a dining hall for the students. Entrees now served replicate those which probably were served when the building was at its original site.

Roundhouse with turntable in foreground for the railroad, complete with machine shop to perform major repairs on locomotives and cars. Two locomotives currently were undergoing major repairs.

Our driver in our Model T ride and a view of the depot wagon model in which we rode. Neither of us had ridden in a Model T before.

Henry Ford Museum at Dearborn MI

2011-07-10T19:42:00.001-07:00

With the RV parked in the Wayne County Fairgrounds RV park, we spent a day each at Henry Ford Museum and the adjacent Greenfield Village. The museum had a wide variety of collections, including early airplanes, farm equipment, locomotives and cars, an unusual prefab home developed after 1945 to house retuning service men at the end of WWII, and even clocks.

Although the car display was closed for renovations, several presidential limousines (all Lincolns) were on display, including this 1938 model used by FDR and Harry Truman.

This is the car in which President Kennedy was shot.

I owned vehicles similar to these – a VW Camper and a 1940 Ford 2 dr., similar to this 1939 or 1940 Ford deluxe.

This huge steam farm tractor was used mainly as a stationary engine to power threshing machines and perhaps other large equipment. It was self-powered to move from farm to farm, and the display added that they were also was used for plowing.

This gigantic steam engine was used to power an entire factory in the late 1800s.

Flywheel from another large steam engine, with governor at upper right. When the speed of the engine, which also rotated the balls, increased, centrifugal force caused them to take a wider arc which slowed the steam engine RPM.

June 2011 Wanderings

2011-07-10T19:32:00.001-07:00

After leaving the Quad city area where we parked the RV at a Coast to Coast park in Colona, we headed to Bloomington IN to visit my cousin Marilyn and husband Paul Uselding.

Marilyn and Jo. We determined that it has been 11 years since Marilyn and I last saw lone another. Jo and Marilyn had never met.

Paul and me. I had not shaved since June 6.

Marilyn and me.

Then we continued to Battle Creek MI where our hosts, Bob and Joanna Learner (above)showed us some of the sights,including this large statue (below) commemorating the Underground Railway

Next was Ann Arbor MI where a nostalgia tour took us to the Law Quad where I spent three years from 1957 to 1960.

Library, now a reading room. Me outside entrance to section P. Gordon Myse and I lived one semester in the room at the right side of the picture. Temporarily it is being used as an office until the new office building is completed.

Lawyers Club portion of Law Quad.

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 6

2011-07-08T10:23:00.001-07:00

The pictures in parts 1 – 5 were all taken by a Canon Power Shot A1100 IS point and shoot 12 mp digital camera. Since water can make it useless, I was careful to put it away in the ammo box when rapids were coming up. For those times I brought along a waterproof Minolta Weathermatic Dual 35 AF camera. I took three 24 exp. rolls in it, yielding about 75 images. The following pictures were taken with it and put on a CD in the processing. Although the camera has automatic focus and exposure, with a telephoto option, I was a little disappointed in the images.

Looking back, I am sorry that I did not search ebay for a waterproof digital camera. There are several for around $100.

The following pictures capture some of the excitement of gong down the rapids.

Looking upstream at a major rapid. Our companion boat is barely visible just entering the rapid in its center.

Our companion boat is coming down the rapid our lead boat just negotiated. Ours has pulled off to the side in an eddy. Many rapids were rougher than this one.

Vasey’s Paradise falls, to me the most spectacular falls on the trip.

We are just a few feet from the initial dropoff of this rapid. Some rapids took as little as 30 seconds to go down; others took up to two minutes in the turbulent water. This was a longer one.

Here turquoise colored water from the Little Colorado River is flowing into the Colorado. Our group hiked up the Little Colorado for going down chutes between rocks.

Looking downstream in the riffle where we, and a lot of others, floated down the stream. A group of nudists also was there, but appropriately covered.

I am coming through the chute. It is bit shallow there and one trends to drag their keel!

Our group is floating down the river on the way back to the boat which was tied up on the bank of the Colorado.

Here is a private party we passed. Powered only by oars, it takes them about 16 days to reach the first takeout point at Diamond Creek. This party has two kayaks with them. For one 24 hour period we saw no other rafters, but usually we saw two or three a day.

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 7

2011-07-08T10:21:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from the second roll of film exposed in the Minolta waterproof camera. They generally show the various rapids we traversed.

This rapid is typical of milder rapids we encountered, but perhaps longer. Smudges are from water on the protective glass in front of the lens.

Looking upstream after a rapid, with our companion boat just reaching its foot.

Boulders which have fallen into the river cause the large standing waves which are best avoided!

Woe be to the rafter who gets hung up on this rock in the middle!

Lots of white water ahead for this raft!

Our companion has nearly completed this rapid.

A private party has just run this easy rapid.

The black rock is Vishnu Schist “basement rock” said to be 1.7 billion years old. It is the lowest strata exposed several places in the Grand Canyon. We were told that it is exposed only two other places in the world. Rock originally below the basement rock has been melted to form magma.

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 1.

2011-06-27T15:45:00.001-07:00

For several years I have wanted to go on a power rafting trip down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon. But until March the opportunity was not quite there. Lucy in her last several years physically was not able to go, and I did not want to go without someone along who I knew. I asked Jo if she would like to go and she replied “ARE YOU CRAZY!” In March friend Jerry Grout said that he was going and that there were more seats available in his trip. A few days later I decided to take the adventure, despite my 75 years. Jerry also recruited another friend of his, Mike Biccum.

The trip was from June 9 to 15 with Wilderness River Adventures. It worked out that Jo and the motor home could stay in Moline IL so she could extend her visits with her mother, brother and sisters, plus other relatives. Allegiant Airlines had fairly economical rates between Moline and Mesa, so that made it even more doable. I left Moline on June 7, slept at home that night, and drove the old Nissan convertible to Page June 8 for the first meeting of the group at the Lake Powell Marina. We began the trip at Lee’s Ferry on June 9.

Or chief boatman, Nate, giving us instructions on packing the two large waterproof bags provided to each of us similar to those behind him . We also were given a similar smaller bag for clothes to use during the day and a 50 cal. ammo box for waterproof storage of other items, like cameras and sun blocker, we would need to access during the day.

Mike Biccum, Jerry Grout and I awaiting the bus at Lake Powell Marina to take us to Lees Ferry, several miles south of Page.

This is the back of the tee shirt given to each passenger. It shows our route from Lees Ferry at the upper right to the takeout point at Whitmore Wash, about 188 miles downriver.

At Lees Ferry, loading the rafts with our waterproof bags, with lifejackets in the foreground. We wore them, duly buckled, every moment we were on the rafts. There were 28 of us, 14 on each raft, with a boatman and “swamper” (assistant) also on each.

Wilderness River Adventures supplied all of the food, drinking water, and sodas. Passengers brought their own beer, wine and spirits and mixes. Here two cases are in being prepared to be loaded!

Me, on the first day . Approaching Navajo Bridge, where California Condors hang out.

Our two rafts tied up on a beach for the lunch stop.

Typical lunch table. We made our sandwiches with cold cuts and the trimmings, with Pringles chips. Jerry is at left, Mike in the foreground and Chelsea, the young lady who asked her father for this trip as her high school graduation present, in the background.

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 2

2011-06-27T15:40:00.001-07:00

Each night we stopped for the night at a large beach of Nate’s choice. Once the boats were tied up, most of the 28 of us formed a line to unload the large waterproof bags, the cots, and the bag chairs. Then everyone found their numbered large bags, grabbed a cot and found a place to set it up for the night. Since rain was not threatened, the tents on board the boats never were unloaded. I neglected to get any pictures of the unloading process. The next morning the process was reversed to load the boats for the day’s trip of 25 to 50 miles.

Each of us were provided with a sleeping bag, sheet, and ground cloth to make up our sleeping arrangements. Mine is at the left, Jerry’s is next, and Mike’s is in the upper part of the picture. Others’ cots are scattered on various level spots. We soon adjusted to the lack of privacy. We went to bed by 9 PM and were awakened every AM by the cry of COFFEE at 5:30. I was surprised by how bright the sky was at night from moonlight.

Here is the bedroom of the three of us another night.

Chairs were set up in a circle for socializing and eating with plates balanced in our laps. The yellow object in the middle is the water cooler for filling our water bottles and cups. We were cautioned to drink extra water each day to avoid dehydration in the dry sunny climate.

This is the kitchen area. The flames are from charcoal lighter getting the charcoal going for the dutch ovens. Next to the right are two propane burners surrounded by a metal windbreak, with a pail being heated on one. Next to the right on the table is the large griddle, propane tank and water containers. Behind Shawn, one of the swampers, is the food preparation and serving table.

This is the dish washing detail. Each passenger was asked to wash their own dishes, but usually volunteers did them more efficiently. Dishes were scraped into the rocket ammunition box at the right, then wiped with a dish mop in the first bucket containing cold water to remove residue, then washed in hot soapy water in the first bucket sitting on a burner, then rinsed in hot water in the next bucket, and finally dipped in a bucket with bleach water to sanitize the plates and table wear. The plates were put, wet, in the cloth bag behind the young man at the left. Table wear was returned, wet, to the containers.

Scenes like this appeared frequently as we went downriver at about 9 mph with the 40 hp motor running about 1/3 throttle. This amphitheater is formed by water erosion, and water accounts for the white and black staining of the rock. The green in the shadow is plants relying on the regular flow of water, perhaps trickles. I took lots of pictures of the rock formations at various places. After a few they all begin to look alike, so I will include only the best in the blogs.

Interesting change of shape of strata in layers of rock.

This view is typical of rapids – smooth water at the top followed by white water downstream. This rapid probably was rated at a 5 or 6 out of 10.

Here is one of the boats as unloaded at night. A Honda generator is being used to power a blower to increase air pressure to 4 or 5 psi in one of the auxiliary pontoons.

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 3

2011-06-27T15:34:00.001-07:00

Our group took several hikes during our 6 days on the river. This one was up a slot canyon to a waterfall. That is me, Jerry and Mike standing at its base.

We had another up the Little Colorado River where we, wearing our life jackets, floated down rapids in the turquoise colored water.

Here I used my walking sticks to hike to the waterfalls in the background.

Jerry , Mike and I standing in the waterfall. I was not eager to stay in it! It was cool, but not as cold as the water in the river. It comes out of Glen Canyon dam about 50 degrees and warms only gradually as it flows downstream.

Jerry relished the dip in the falls.

So did others

This was a particularly high falls, generating a lot of mist at the bottom.

This rainbow formed in the mist.

Many of our group climbed up to two features, one called the patio and the other, a higher falls. This shot reminds me of the 49ers packing their ton of supplies up Chilkoot Pass from Skagway to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. I did not make the climb.

Turquoise colored Havasu Creek flowing down the Havasupai Reservation to the Colorado River.

Most of our party waded Havasu Creek to walk up to higher similar pools.

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 4

2011-06-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

The last full day on the river was a long one – about 50 miles. To save time we made lunch sandwiches in the AM before leaving the spot we spent the night and then tied up in the shade in the early afternoon to eat our lunches on the rafts.

The inner gorge became deeper later in the trip.

Nate permitted a few on our boat to jump into the water and float down a mild rapid in their life jackets. Here the first is being recovered by the boat.

The black rock between the boatman (Nate) and the steering arm of the spare motor is lava which is found along several miles of the river. There is so much lava that I suppose that there were many vents in the area, erupting over many years.

More lava covering older rock.

On the last night on the river the crew removed, deflated and rolled up the pontoons so that, after dropping us at the helicopter pad for extraction the next AM, they could go 100 miles downstream to the boat take-out point at a higher speed than if the pontoons were left on the boats.

On the last night awards were made. The award was a couple of pulls on a tequila bottle. Here Jerry is receiving his award as the historian or the group for volunteering to get the names and e-mail addresses of everyone and sending them to all of the passengers.

I won the award for the best new beard of the group. I did not shave for the whole trip (and I still am sporting most of the whiskers).

Rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Part 5

2011-06-27T15:23:00.001-07:00

Nate presented each of us with a pin showing that because we had completed the trip we were designated Royal River Rats.

On the last morning all of us were giving a thumbs up for the trip.

About an hour downstream that morning we pulled up to a beach and carried our duffel up to a helicopter pad on the Havasupai Reservation. The park service would not allow choppers into the canyon to land on a pad under its jurisdiction.

The chopper is landing for one of its 6 trips to take us and our duffel out of the canyon to the Bar 10 Ranch on the north rim.

This is from the chopper flying up a lava-encrusted canyon to reach the ranch.

The wives of Jerry and Mike, with another lady, drove up to the Bar 10 in this Suzuki to greet the Royal River Rats and stay the night. The rest of us took a much-needed shower, had another sandwich for lunch,and were flown back to Page or Las Vegas in a 20 passenger turboprop plane.

Members of the group at Bar 10 waiting for air transportation. It sure was nice to get back to green grass, taller trees and clean clothes!

Golden Spike outing to Boulder City, NV – part 2

2011-05-27T20:00:00.001-07:00

On the third day of the outing, Sun. May 8, the group took a rafting trip for 12 miles down the Colorado River beginning at the dam and ending at Willow Beach.12 miles downstream.

Here is the dam from the down stream side. The structures on both sides are the outlets for the spillways. They have been opened only twice in the 75 years since the dam was completed. Several rafts left this morning.

More of the bridge is shown here. Boats cannot go upstream of the line of buoys.

Jo is dressed appropriately for the day, and our guide/boatman is behind her.The day was cloudy and windy. Spray was blown into the boat, but there was no rain.

Hot springs feed this canyon – note the flowing stream of water coming out of the side of the cliff. The flow leads to the lush greenery.

Our lunch stop. The lunches were provided in the small turquoise insulated bags.

Can you find the three desert bighorn sheep in this somewhat blurry shot? They are all ewes and lambs.

How many sheep can you find in this one? I count 9. In all we saw upwards of 24 in several groups which came to the river for a drink.

Of course, our group managed to visit a few restaurants for refreshments during the weekend.

Golden Spike outing to Boulder City, NV, part 1

2011-05-27T19:22:00.001-07:00

The first stop of our 2011 summer trip was the Boulder City NV rally of the Golden Spike Chapter of FMCA May 4 - 7. Twenty four of our stalwart members attended.

Our first activity was a tour of the Hoover Dam and the power house. All of the water which goes down stream is used to generate electricity.

Here is the new bridge across the Colorado River.which was opened just last fall, down stream from the dam. Traffic formerly was routed across the dam. It was a real bottleneck, especially after 9 – 11 when many vehicles had to be inspected before being allowed to cross.

View of the dam from the observation deck.

Marina at Boulder City area. The “bathtub ring” shows how low the lake is after a long drought in the upper Colorado Basin. Our campground is in the little white area in the upper left against green trees.

Our second activity was a 45 minute ride on the Nevada Southern Railway. Its tracks no longer reach those of other railroads. The cars were nicely restored and have refrigeration. The ride itself was along the highway so did not give us unique views, with one exception.

This was the exception - what can be the source of the water going down the falls half way down the side of the mountain? The falls are man made and turned on when golfers are on a course near the bottom of the falls.

One rarely sees a lady conductor! And for that matter, an engineer in shorts!

Strongs’ week on Maui

2011-05-18T19:53:00.001-07:00

We flew directly from Kauai to Maui for the second week of our March trip to Hawaii. This time we had a small Chevrolet rental car. It did well for us, but it was not as comfortable as the Hyundai we had on Kauai.

We went on a whale watching cruise from Lahaina harbor in a 30 passenger boat with a solid bottom but with air pontoons for floatation powered by two Cummins diesel engines. We were lucky enough to be with a group of 4 whales for 30 to 40 minutes. Unfortunately, my digital camera batteries gave up, so no digital pictures of them! The camera, by the way, is a point and shoot Canon AS1100 IS (11 mp) with an eye level viewfinder.

Just a little surfing was going on at Hookipa Beach, but the surf was enough to keep the locals interested.

In Iao Valley, where a decisive battle was fought and won by the forces of Kamehameha. He brought all of the islands under his rule. Signs in the state park claimed that lookouts were posted at the top of the spire in the background. Terraces in the valley defined small irrigated plots where mainly taro was grown.

This scene greeted us at the top of Haleakala. At least it was not all socked in. Elevation here is a little over 10,000 ft. It took about 2 hours to drive up the winding road beginning at sea level!

The silversword plant grows only near the top of the mountain. Under the silver colored leaves the plant is a light green color.

Here we are at the very summit of Haleakala

With my mild COPD I was huffing and puffing a lot at the top, but here is the evidence that I made it!

Under our rental car contract we were to return the car with an empty gas tank. Driving up Haleakala caused the needle of the gas gauge to drop more than I expected, so I was a bit concerned about fuel to get down the mountain. We went down in second gear to save the brakes. A readout on the dashboard often gave real time gas consumption of 99 mpg! My congratulations to the computer governing fuel usage! We made it to the bottom with fuel to spare!

Maui has a nice aquarium showing the colorful reef fish and corals. Large tanks had a few sharks, but no seals or whales.

This was the most spectacular rainbow we encountered during our visit.

We had a fine meal in this restaurant named for “The Duke” who popularized surf boarding

Strongs in Kuaui

2011-05-14T20:09:00.001-07:00

In March we went to Kauai and Maui for a week in each (using timeshare exchanges)rather than taking our usual two week trip to Cabo San Lucas. Jo had been to both islands previously; I had not been to Kauai. The next blog will focus on Maui

Or first venture on Kauai was to drive up one side of Waimea Canyon, billed as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Jo, with our rental Hyundai, on the way to the top. The high ridge in the background is the other side of the canyon.

Can you make out the waterfall in this one?

Good view up the center of the canyon

A rare view of the ocean from road. Elevation at this point is about 4000 ft.

End of the road and beginning of the hiking trail. The higher peak is billed as the second wettest spot in the world with over 400 inches of rain per year

Kilauea Point lighthouse now a bird sanctuary

Jo at our luau Dancers on stage in the middle of the theater.

On our catamaran boat ride along Napali Coast

Typical view along the rugged Napali Coast

Blow hole in volcanic material along beach. Wave water rushes in tube leading to surface many feet from the sea and is forced upward. The sound of rushing air before the eruption of water is called a dragon breathing!

“Jo Jo” enjoying flavored shaved ice at Jo Jo’s shaved ice shack. Shaved ice is as popular in Hawaii as ice cream is here.

Cabo San Lucas Views

2011-05-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is my second post as I want to show you some of the great views at Cabo taken in our 2009 visit.

This is the upper pool at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach on the Pacific at Cabo San Lucas

Sunset Beach complex and a middle level pool from upper area

Sunset Beach resort from beach of Pacific

View of the multiple levels of Sunset Beach Resort. Propane-powered carts are used to transport guests on paved paths winding about the site.

Colorful hibiscus next to the entrance road with one of the carts in the background

Famous sign outside Giggling Marlin bistro in downtown Cabo San Lucas

Main entrance to Giggling Marlin with Jo, Barbara and Mike Williams

Cabo Villas Deluxe Junior Suite

2011-05-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt to put together a blog. I am practicing with a series of pictures of our timeshare at Cabo Villas in Cabo San Lucas

These pictures are of our deluxe junior suite at Cabo Villas before upgrades in 2011. (It is for sale)

King sized bed with couch in foreground

Entry way, closet on left and galley.

Galley area with full-sized refrigerator

Galley is out of picture at left, then table, arcadia doors to balcony, TV and back of couch

Galley is out of picture at left, writing desk and table for four

Arcadia door, TV, chair and couch

Bathroom sink and shower

Lands End through arcadia door of unit

One pool in foreground, with busy restaurants and beach in Medano Bay

Lands End with building of resort in foreground

Medano Bay and entrance to marina