Several weeks ago we were at an RV park and we were with a group of campers talking about places we'd been. Grand Canyon came up, and one guy said simply, "It's not real." We all laughed--you know, mirrors, smoke, etc. Well, now we know what he meant. It was incredible and awesome and beautiful. We decided it would be fun to take a tour, so on Friday a van picked us up at our campground, we picked up a group of German tourists at another campground, and spent the day in Grand Canyon. We really enjoyed the trip, and Mike was happy not to have to drive. We got to see endangered condors soaring above the canyon. That was a real treat!

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We also drove to Sedona, AZ and were surprised at what a beautiful little city it is. The rock formations and their colors reminded us of Bryce Canyon in Utah.

Sunday we left AZ for Santa Fe, NM, our last stop on our grand adventure. Santa Fe averages over 300 days of sunshine a year. Unfortunately, it has rained here every day so we haven't gotten to walk in any of the many parks, or hike any of the trails. I did, however, get to visit the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, and really enjoyed it. I learned so much about her life and work. I was familiar with her large flowers, which I love, but got to see her abstracts, sketches, and landscapes; and learn about her life in New York City and in New Mexico, and her famous photographer husband. Santa Fe is a beautiful city with unique architecture, but is also very crowded and the traffic is terrible.

This is our last post for our blog. It makes us sad to realize this. We have truly had a wonderful, near-perfect, dream-come-true trip. Hard as it will be to get back to reality, we know that there are more trips in our future, and we're already starting to plan!

Some last notes:
We've driven almost 20,000 miles, about 12,000 towing the trailer and the rest on side trips, sightseeing, running errands, etc.

The strangest thing we've seen: in SD and in AZ, mobile homes with tires lined up on the roof.

The most we've had to pay for diesel fuel for the truck was $3.24/gal in a small town in CA near Yosemite. The least we paid was $1.99 in Quartzite, AZ last winter.

18-wheelers come in more colors than cars: various yellows, orange, and coral; magenta, bubblegum pink, maroon, ordinary red; navy blue with pink pinstriping, cobalt, columbia, turquoise, and baby blue; teal, hunter, and sea green; even gold and mauve.

Sirius Radio has accompanied us through the whole western United States, mostly tuned to Margaritaville and Sities on Six, and sometimes to golf tournaments or NASCAR.

Carmen (our Garmin GPS) has been immensely helpful the whole trip, finding Post Offices, grocery stores, and RV campgrounds; she sometimes gets her left and right mixed up, so we always look at her map; the funniest things she's said are, "In .6 miles turn left on Hiking Trail," as if it were Kingwood Drive, and we were towing! And, "In .3 miles turn right on East University Doctor." Think about it.

It's amazing how few clothes and "things" we actually need to get along. We plan, however, to burn most of our clothes when we get home, we're so sick of them!

We wonder if Gracie and Max will remember Cubby, and he them. And we wonder how long it will take Gracie to put Dan's young dog Strider in his place, and if Max and Strider will enjoy playing together. Bet Max will teach him how to catch squirrels.

Happy Trails to you, until we meet again.

As we drove away from Mt. Shasta last week, it was a beautiful day and the sky was a clear brilliant blue. Except as we looked back at the mountain, there were clouds hovering around its peak--the only clouds in the sky. Hmmmm.

Two days of driving brought us to the tiny town of Midpines, CA, near Mariposa and Yosemite NP. On our first trip into Yosemite, we went for a great hike to a small grove of Giant Sequoias. That's where the picture above was taken. We tried to take a shortcut on the way back to our campground; well, you know how shortcuts usually work out! We ended up driving on a very winding road in the dark--not fun. Our second day into the park we took a nice drive to some wonderful vistas. We avoided the valley because of the crowds, but did enjoy seeing some different areas of the park. http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

We left Midpines last Monday, the 17th, and drove across the Mojave Desert. We thought it was funny that the temperatures in Austin were higher than the temps we experienced in the desert! We spent the night in the desert town of Barstow, and the RV park blew a huge breaker, leaving the campers with no AC. And it was hot! Fortunately, there was a small section of the campground that had power, so those of us without generators unhooked and moved. The next long day's drive brought us to Flagstaff, AZ. What wonderful summer weather this city has! 80's in the daytime, 50's at night, and no humidity. We were amazed at the news report from Phoenix that the humidity was high at 27%! Max is, again, having bad hair days. Both dogs are pretty dirty from all the sand we've been in for several days.

Thursday, Mike and Max went for a long walk part way up a mountain by our campground. It was hotter than Mike had anticipated and at one point, Max just sat down! They were pretty beat when they got back. Gracie is not too spry these days, so she and I went for a shorter walk, and played her favorite game of "Find It" here in the RV.

Today we took a van tour of the Grand Canyon. What an experience! I haven't uploaded those pics yet, so will update the blog again soon.

We're in the town of Mount Shasta, CA within sight of Mt. Shasta. For the picture above, we drove up the mountain, as far as the road went, above the tree line. The mountain is actually 4 volcano cones, and although they are dormant, the chances of an eruption are 1 in 250 - 300. After seeing all the damage that Mt St Helens did those odds are a little too good for us so we're leaving tomorrow. ;o) This view was looking toward 2 mountain ranges to the southwest, with Mt Shasta behind us. http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

We enjoyed the little town of Mount Shasta. There are lots of funky little espresso shops and cafes, and many shops selling mystic rocks and beads, potions and incense, tie-dyed clothing and books on meditation. It was really interesting! This is a ski area, so there are lots of little motels and inns. We also visited the town of Weed, which was not as quaint, but there was a great T-shirt with this saying across the front. "I [heart] Weed." We didn't buy one, but we were tempted!

Tomorrow (Thursday) we head toward Yosemite for a few days, and hope the weather stays mild for us.

Tomorrow we say good-bye to the beautiful Pacific coast. We loved the California coast as we headed north back in February, March, and April; we have loved the Oregon coast just as much. I enjoyed taking pictures of several of the lighthouses, and we had hoped to get to tour the one at Cape Blanco, but were surprised at how early it closed. We hate to brag about the weather--high's in the upper 60's and cooler nights--because we know we'll be back in the heat in just a few weeks!

We celebrated our 39th anniversary here in Port Orford. At the recommendation of the owner of the little RV park where we are now, we went to eat at the "best restaurant in town." We were skeptical when we saw it, but it was really good and very charming.
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We have picked up the pace, and won't get to stay 5 days or a week in any one place. We'll be at Mt. Shasta the beginning of this week, (at a KOA where we need to catch up on laundry; it just doesn't go away!); 3 nights in Yosemite, then we'll head for the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff where it's high and cooler. See you on down the road as we head for home.

Well, we're a little behind on our blog--busy with matters at home, and staying at campgrounds with weak internet signals. Glad to be in touch again! The picture above shows Mt Saint Helens in the background; this is as close as we got. It was quite a drive to get close. A helicopter ride would have been the way to really see the volcano, but that was just too expensive! That's the Toutle River Valley; notice all the ash still in the valley. We only vaguely remember the 1980 eruption, so it was very interesting to read all about the eruption, both the geological events leading up to it and the drastic changes that came afterwards. We ate lunch at a wonderful restaurant, which is where this photo was taken.

From our campground at Castle Rock, WA, we also took a long and beautiful drive to the coast. The scenery was just as you might imagine: steep wooded hills, sunwashed,narrow, shingled houses, lots of boats docked in the bays, high capes with incredible views. We really enjoyed the drive, especially seeing Astoria, where the fun "Goonies" movie was filmed!

From Castle Rock we headed south, with the sober thought that we had turned toward home. We spent a few days on the central Oregon coast in Florence, and again got to enjoy spectacular drives. There are many, many lighthouses, of course, and we've gotten pictures of a few of them. We are also happy to be back in the cool weather! We've learned that in this part of the country, fog has to be really close to the ground to be called fog; otherwise it's "marine layer." Every morning there's a marine layer on the coast!
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Today we moved south to Cape Blanco, at Port Orford, just a little north of the California border. There are many state parks with hiking trails which we hope to explore. Our 39th anniversay is Saturday, and the campground owner has recommended a restaurant right on the coast, where we can watch the boats and enjoy the view while we eat. Looking forward to that, and to more adventures these last few weeks of our trip!

While in Polson, we heard about this beautiful mission about an hour's drive away. The St. Ignatius Mission was one of those wonderful surprises that we had not planned on, but are so glad we found! We went first to the 150-year-old cabin that was the missionaries' first building. Then we walked into the mission, and were astounded at what we saw! I know you will enjoy the pictures of this incredibly beautiful and inspiring church. Masses are still held there.
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Last Wednesday we drove to Lewiston ID/Clarkston WA to spend some time with our good friends Dick and Julie. You may remember that they joined us back in early May in Utah--Bryce Canyon and Zion NP. The drive was quite beautiful, despite the endless construction! We saw several warning signs of moose crossings, and suddenly a moose cow came from the side of the highway right towards my window! We were going about 60 mph! I could see how shiny her coat was, and the wild look in her eye as she tried to pass in front of the truck. We really thought we were going to hit her, or she was going to hit us! Fortunately, we made it past her, and Mike looked back and could see her standing in the middle of the highway. When our hearts topped pounding, Mike wanted to know why I didn't get a picture of her!

We spent a wonderful 5 days hanging out with Dick and Julie--had some good walks, good food, and good conversation. Their home is so beautiful--we especially enjoyed the night Dick cooked steaks and we ate outside on their deck, looking out over the Lewiston/Clarkston valley, watching the lights come on below us. We hated to say good-bye to our good friends.

Well, the heat has caught up with us. I realize you all will have no sympathy for us, but today is was 109 in this park on the WA/OR boundary. We turned on the AC when we arrived at 3:00, and it has not shut off yet, and it is almost 8:00pm. We head for a park near Mt. St. Helen's in a couple of days, then to the Oregon coast where the highs are just in the 80's! Yay!

From our beautiful campground just outside the town of West Glacier, we made 2 trips into Glacier NP. (So glad we bought that year-long national park pass way back at Big Bend!) On our first venture, we rode the free shuttle buses up to Logan Pass so that Mike could spend the trip enjoying the views out the window instead of having to watch the narrow road! The picture above was taken at the pass, as are quite a few others on our web album. http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3
Although we were glad we took the shuttles, the park was quite crowded, and with the road construction, it took us 2 hours to get from Logan Pass back to where our truck was parked.

The next day we drove to Logan Pass, then on down the other side of the mountain. This eastern route was not as spectacular as the west side, but we did stop and take a hike to beautiful St. Mary Falls. It was a wonderful walk through the woods and along a creek, and we could hear the falls as we hiked.

For most of the trip, when we have left the dogs, we've made sure they've had a good long walk and/or a long run. Then we leave the TV or radio on (not really for their enjoyment, but for the white noise!). We had to buy 2 baby gates and stack them to block the "upstairs" of our fifth wheel to keep one or both of the dogs off our bed! We suspect Gracie is the bad dog, but without a "nanny cam" we'll never know for sure! Well, our first day back from Glacier, we discovered that the dogs had wormed their way under the gates--even big ol' Max. We know that for sure because he was still behind the gates when we got home, looking rather ashamed, and there was Gracie acting innocent! But the next day, when we got back, Gracie was the one trapped! Now we're afraid they'll try to get under the gates and get their heads caught. Today, here in Polson, about 2 hours south of Glacier NP, we went to the cherry festival and didn't put up the gates, just spread an old blanket on the bed, and yes, "someone" got on our bed while we were gone!

Polson is at the south end of huge Flathead Lake, which is about 45 miles long and very green, with tall wooded hills surrounding it. The cherry festival was small and "folksy" with, of course, many cherry-themed items, from aprons to jam to cherry lemonade. (Very good!) Tomorrow Mike is going to watch the hydroplanes on the lake. Too much testosterone for me!

We head west on Tuesday, into Idaho where we'll visit our good friends Dick and Julie.

The National Folk Festival in Butte, MT, was exciting, huge, entertaining, and free! This festival has been going on for over 40 years, but when it came to Butte last year it was the first time it was held in a city west of the Mississippi. It is hosted in the same city for 3 years, then moves to another locale. The National Endowment for the Arts provides some of the funding.

The picture above is the "Original" stage, at the site of "The Original" copper mine in Butte. Friday night we met up with Gwen's friend and co-worker, Barry, and his wife, and saw an incredible blues singer from Chicago. Saturday we saw bluegrass singers, cutting horse demonstrations, and everything in between. There were 6 major stages with a variety of performers and entertainers. We also browsed booths of juried artists, and enjoyed beer and strawberry smoothies.

Unfortunately, there were scattered thunderstorms on Sunday, so we didn't get to see as many entertainers as we had hoped.

Our campground was a really nice one, but was jammed with RV's and tents for the weekend festival. We met some nice couples who were camped nearby, and played Mexican Train dominoes with them one evening. Our dogs got to be friends, too, and had some great play times together!

Cody, WY, is really cowboy country! The Fourth of July parade was as much Western as Independence Day, with many beautiful horses, decorated wagons, men dressed as frontiersmen, two-wheeled carts pulled by ponies, and a noticeable lack of Indians. The marching high school bands were quite small, and there were "Miss Rodeos" from tots to teenagers! At the beginning of the parade, over a speaker system up and down the street, everyone said the Pledge of Allegience, and then sang the national anthem. We went to the Stampede Rodeo on Friday night at an open-air arena that held maybe 5000 people, but it was not full. The announcer sat on his horse out in the arena, joked around with the clowns between events, and they both chatted with the spectators. It was really fun, and we didn't miss the big-name entertainment or the carnival!

Another highlight of our time in Cody was a trip to the surprisingly large Buffalo Bill Historical Center, with 5 museums within it. There was, of course, a museum all about Buffalo Bill Cody, with posters and photographs and memorabilia. But we also really enjoyed the Plains Indians displays and artwork; the museum of Western Art with paintings and sculptures by Remington, Charles Russell and many others; and the wonderfully interesting and beautiful paintings of the Lewis and Clark expedition by an artist named Fritz. Fritz spent years retracing the route and reading journals so that his 100 works would be accurate.

While in Cody we had a little trouble finding a good place to walk the dogs; one spot had a sign warning of rattlesnakes and bears on the trail, so we chose not to follow that trail! We walked around a reservoir a couple of days--not too scenic but not bad. We were right next to a regional airport, and every time a small plane would come in low, Gracie would watch it carefully, either wanting to herd it or making sure it stayed away from her people! Max was especially interested in the occasional dead fish along the path.

We are back in Montana now, (The photo above is so typical of the wide-open country in MT.), in Butte for the National Folk Festival. Tonight is an Indian Pony parade, then we're going to hear a Chicago Jazz group. The Festival lasts through Sunday evening, with all kinds of entertainment: an Irish band, breakdancers, fiddlers, Indian storytellers, demonstrations such as cutting horses and basketweaving, several jazz groups, fiddlers, singers, Indian artists, other artists, etc. And all of it is free! We are looking forward, also, to hooking up with a friend and co-worker of Gwen's, whose wife is from Butte. They are here on vacation to visit family and the Festival, and have offered to show us around.

Well, we've found it--the place we want to spend our summers forever! Red Lodge, MT, is just about the most wonderful place we've ever been. The town is quite small, with some tourist-y shops, but lots of fun and interesting places, too, plus really nice people. The campground we stayed in was just outside of town on roaring Rock Creek, with lots of trees and, unfortunately, lots of mud. The owner was frantically trying to do landscape and grade new sites, but he said it had rained every day in June except maybe 2. We were there 6 days and it rained in the late afternoon of 5 of those days. But we still loved it!

The drives from the town of Red Lodge were just so incredibly spectacular. Charles Kuralt had written that the Beartooth Highway was the most scenic and beautiful in the United States. We haven't seen all of the U.S., but so far, we agree with him! Ellen took lots and lots of pictures, but you just can't imagine how magnificent the views are. We drove it twice, once on a clear sunny day and once with heavy clouds, and I think we could drive it every day for years and not tire of it. The road is a long series of hairpin turns and steep climbs (or descents), with several large pullouts where we could get out and marvel at the scenery. When we reached the pass, at almost 11,000 ft. and above the tree line, we were amazed to see tiny wildflowers growing out of the rocky tundra. Almost as amazing were the skiers we stopped to watch, still enjoying their sport in June!

Another beautiful drive was the Chief Joseph (of the Nez Perce) Scenic Byway, with miles of high rolling hills, and a deep gorge made by the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. We stopped often to take pictures, and to read about the tragic journey of the Nez Perce.

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In addition to enjoying the town and the drives, we discovered terrific places to hike with the dogs. Two different hikes took us along high rushing rivers--Rock Creek, which was the same one that rushed by behind our RV campsite, and Stillwater River, which was certainly not still.

We were really sad to leave Red Lodge, but as always, are looking forward to new adventures. We are in Cody, WY, where there's lots planned for the Fourth, including parades, BBQ (we've missed good BBQ), and a championship rodeo.

Since we left Cripple Creek we spent a few days at Rifle Gap State Park north of Rifle, CO, and a few in Thermopolis, WY. These two experiences were sort of at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Rifle State Park was a really nice, clean park with spacious sites and beautiful views. This part of Colorado reminds us a lot of the Texas Hill Country with no trees other than scrub cedars. Our site overlooked a beautiful lake that was the main attraction of the park. The weather was great and Mike took advantage of it to play golf one day at a nice little course just the other side of the gap.

The drive from Rifle to Thermopolis was one of the longest we've made in a single day, but the roads were good and the traffic was light so it wasn't a bad day. The route took us across the beautiful and desolate high plains of western Colorado and Wyoming. We crossed the Continental Divide four times at around 7,000 feet and saw what seemed like 100's of pronghorn antelope. As we were crossing the Great Divide Basin, Mike was glancing at the scenery and looked up to find a pronghorn standing right in the middle of the road immediately in front of us...they look so small out on the prairie but when you get them at the end of your hood they are a lot bigger! Thankfully he continued across; there wasn't any other traffic and we missed him. The drive ended with a beautiful stretch through the Wind River Canyon where the Wind River cuts through the Owl Creek Mountains. We will post some pictures of this canyon when we have a better internet connection!

Thermopolis is the home of the world's largest mineral hot springs. There is a state park with several baths that are very popular, but smelly! We stayed in the Eagle RV Park which appeared to be a former KOA; it was the tightest park we've stayed in on this trip. Some of the bigger rigs that came in could hardly maneuver into their sites! Thankfully all of our neighbors were nice, because you couldn't help but get to know them since you were camped right on top of each other.

Yesterday we moved from Thermopolis to Red Lodge, MT near the northeast corner of Yellowstone. Red Lodge is at the northern end of the Beartooth Highway, which is supposed to be one of the most scenic drives in America; it is also near the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. We are looking forward to exploring this area over the next few days.

This is our last day at Cripple Creek and we have really enjoyed this part of Colorado. We were never able to work up to long hikes--too exhausting--but the campground is large and hilly, and we take several walks around the area every day.

Early in the week we drove to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. A beautiful drive over yet another winding, scenic road. We listened to an interesting and enthusiastic national park ranger talk about the geological and more recent history of the area. There are many massive petrified stumps of redwoods that lived here millions of years ago. This area contains the largest number of insect and plant fossils anywhere in the world, the result of 3 large active volcanoes that were west of Florissant.

Yesterday we drove into Colorado Springs for a day of errands, and yes, over a winding beautiful road. For someone who's afraid of heights, Ellen is getting used to looking out over the tops of trees and down into deep canyons and valleys! Colorado Springs is a pretty little city in a spectacular setting; we had to drive around Pikes Peak to get there from Cripple Creek.

We've had our first bad adventure here in this campground. We've seen evidence of mice in our bottom kitchen cabinets! Some sort of sonic contraption that you plug in is now in place, plus sticky traps and clip-type traps. We see much less "evidence" and hope we don't take any with us when we move tomorrow! We told Max we were terribly disappointed in his not alerting us to those rodents.

We've added more pictures to our Colorado folder, so please check those out. We're on to Rifle in western CO, then back north into Wyoming. See you on down the road.

The KOA at Buena Vista was a good spot for relaxing, catching up on laundry, and going for a good long hike. We were just there a couple of nights, but we enjoyed beautiful views. We really could watch the storms come across the valley each afternoon.

Friday we drove to near Cripple Creek, southwest of Colorado Springs. We are again at a KOA with wonderful views, but with an altitude of 10,000 ft, it has taken us a couple of days to get used to! We suffered with headaches and shortness of breath, and the first day all we wanted to do was sleep! (We didn't.) We are much better today, Sunday. We drove the few miles into Cripple Creek this afternoon for a walking tour of the historical town. It was interesting and fun, despite the brief hailstorm! We were surprised that the town once had a population of 55,000, with railroads, schools, churches, opera houses, newspapers, brothels, a gold exchange, and 30 millionaires; it almost became the capital of Colorado. We also visited the Pikes Peak Heritage Center and learned everything we wanted to know about mining for gold!

We are still plagued with afternoon storms, all of which are accompanied by hail. Gracie barks at the storms to make them go away; Max hides behind our legs! After hearing about the Texas heatwave, we're not going to complain, however! It was 34 degrees last night and mid-50's this afternoon!

While in the area, we plan to visit Fossil Beds National Monument (maybe we'll find something!), Pikes Peak (don't plan on hiking to the top...), and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Keep in touch, everybody!

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We had a great weekend with Gwen. She arrived in Denver early Friday morning and we enjoyed the day together catching up. Saturday we headed to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked to a beautiful mountain lake called Nymph Lake. We tried to go further to Dream Lake but the snow (!) was too deep and the path too steep, so we headed over to Alberta Falls instead. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the scenery and having Gwen along to share it with. Sunday, before we had to take Gwen to the airport, we managed to get a good hike/walk in with the dogs at a county open space area called Devils Backbone.

The weather really turned bad on the way to the airport--rain, wind, hail and tornadoes. You may have seen the pictures of a shopping mall near the airport that was struck by a tornado.

Sunday evening we drove over to Estes Park and had a wonderful dinner with our friend Laura Grantham who lives there in the summers, and in Kingwood in the winters. We enjoyed getting to see her and her beautiful mountain home.

Monday morning was cold and damp but we headed out for Yampa River State Park near Hayden, CO. The route we chose took us up the Cache La Poudre River canyon. It was kind of twisty and slow going for us with the trailer, but it was an incredibly beautiful drive. We passed several really nice USFS campgrounds and thought about just stopping. When we crossed Cameron Pass the temperature was 32 degrees and it was snowing/freezing rain...what fun! The drive also took us over Muddy Pass and Rabbit Ears Pass on the way into Hayden.

I can't remember why we decided to come to Yampa River State Park but it is a real disappointment. It is on the Yampa River which is running high and fast right now, but other than fishing there doesn't seem to be much to do here. It's not in the mountains either so there aren't really any views. We've had thunderstorms and hail both days too, just to add to the atmosphere.

The other disappointment is that the facilities (restrooms, showers and laundry) are all very new but they have not been taken care of and are filthy. When Ellen asked one of the "Rangers" in the Visitors Center about the cleaning schedule she just sort of shrugged and said she guessed she could go clean them! Anyway, we were supposed to stay here for four nights but we're leaving tomorrow and going down to Buena Vista. We'll have a better 'net connection when we get down there, so keep an eye out for updated pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3 .

37 degrees, light rain mixed with a little sleet, June 2--unbelievable! This was the weather the day we left Custer State Park, SD. We really enjoyed camping in this large beautiful park, though. The campsites were really large and grassy, and there were bison everywhere. One evening we took the dogs for a walk, but when we walked back toward our area of the park, there were 2 bison grazing right on the walkway. Mike suggested we walk on the road, but there were 2 more bison. After waiting about 20 minutes for them to move, and they didn't, we walked back to a lodge where someone called a park ranger to come and give us a ride to our camp area! Within the park was a wildlife scenic drive, which we took one evening. More bison and pronghorn antelope!

From our base in the State Park, we went to nearby Mt. Rushmore. We enjoyed not only seeing the sculpture, but also reading all about the design and making of the monument. The visitors' center had fascinating displays and photos of the process and the men involved. We also went for a drive on the Needles Highway--"needles" for the unusual pointed rock formations along the road and on either side of the tunnels. A big surprise for us was our visit to Badlands National Park, where the photo above was taken. We drove along rolling prairie grasslands, and suddenly these expansive rock formations, canyons, and buttes came into view. They were stark and beautiful. We had no idea that this area is home of the largest mammal fossil beds in the world.

Prior to our week in Custer State Park, we spent a few days in Hardin, MT, and visited Little Bighorn National Monument. We heard an interesting talk on the battle, walked and drove through the hills where the battle took place, and saw the 1881 monument honoring the cavalry and the 1993 memorial to the Indians. It was all quite impressive.

From the 37 degree weather earlier in the week, we were glad to move south. We are 25 miles east of Estes Park, and looking forward to a visit from Gwen this weekend. The weather here is mild, much more pleasant than that Texas heat we're hearing about!

We finally are at a campground with a strong enough connection that we could download our pictures. We took 4 trips into Yellowstone NP, seeing something new and exciting each time. We loved the wildlife, and since our last blog update, have seen a marmot, 3 black bears, an eagle, and pronghorn antelope. We have also enjoyed seeing and learning about the unusual geothermal hot springs, geysers, and mudpots. Yellowstone NP is immense, and even after 4 visits we don't feel that we got to see everything.

Our campground in West Yellowstone was on a beautiful, peaceful lake. We made some nice friends there; enjoyed watching the ospreys circling the lake each evening; took long walks on the lake "beach" where the dogs could run and sniff; and decided this would be a wonderful place to workcamp in future summers. We hated to leave, but it was time to move on to new adventures.

We are spending a few days in southeastern Montana, visiting Little Bighorn Battlefield and related museums. Then we'll head for the Black Hills of South Dakota, exploring that area and visiting Mt. Rushmore.

Enjoy our pictures! http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

A grizzly bear! What an exciting thing to see in Yellowstone National Park! We've made 3 trips into the park since moving to our present campground at West Yellowstone, Montana. We've found that we're more excited about the wildlife and scenery than about Old Faithful! Sightings having included an osprey (not as large as an eagle but pretty spectacular), many elk, several herds of bison and their calves, pronghorn, mule deer, a wolf (wow!), and this grizzly bear. Yellowstone NP is really immense, with varied scenery--several fast-moving rivers, huge Yellowstone Lake, rocky cliffs, wide meadows, geysers, geothermal hot springs and mudpots--all on top of a massive caldera, or basin, caused by a volcanic eruption 640,000 years ago. All that thermal activity is really fascinating and unusual. And smelly! Mike identified it as smelling like an old radiator! I think it smells a little like eggs boiling. We missed seeing Old Faithful, but didn't really mind because of the busy tourist area that has built up around it. Instead we enjoyed many of the other attractions in the various geyser basins. Seeing all the wildlife has been a highlight of our trip; we still hope to see a bull moose and a trumpeter swan.

We have not uploaded our pictures yet because of a very slow internet connection. Hope to do so soon. We really want to share all the fascinating things that we've seen.

Our campground is on a large, deep lake--Hebgen Lake--that has only very recently lost the last of its ice. There's a wide dirt/sand beach, which will disappear when the lake is full in mid-July. Max and Gracie are loving running and chasing each other, and sniffing elk tracks and driftwood. They don't get to go with us into Yellowstone, since dogs are not allowed anywhere in the park except the parking lots.

We're planning a visit to a bear and wolf museum in the town of West Yellowstone this weekend. And, of course, we'll be watching the Indy 500 on Sunday!

Kodachrome Basin State Park was our last adventure with our friends Dick and Julie. A late afternoon hike was an especially beautiful time to visit. We decided it was sort of a miniature Bryce Canyon. When you look at our pictures, notice the high ridges that Mike and Dick and Julie ventured out onto. Ellen couldn't handle those heights! I said this was our last adventure together, but cooking s'mores that night was a lot of fun, too!

The four of us drove our RV's back to Provo, so Dick and Julie could turn in their rented RV in Salt Lake City. Dick and Julie headed home, and we drove on to eastern Idaho near Grand Teton National Park. We've made 2 trips over 8500 ft high Teton Pass to Jackson, WY, and to the park. The pass just opened around the first of May and there is still about 8' of snow piled up beside the road at the summit! The amazing thing about the Tetons is how they just rise right out of the plains, with no foothills.

Today, after taking the pups for a long walk, we stayed in Idaho and drove north across the Teton Valley to Mesa Falls. Gently rolling hills of plowed dirt, scattered farmhouses, and half-buried barns (not sure about those--maybe for potatoes?) with the Tetons in the background--a really pretty drive. Mesa Falls is on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, and was really spectacular.

We're planning one more trip to Grand Teton NP, to finish a loop that goes through the park. We hope to see more wildlife this time. Then we move north to West Yellowstone, just outside of Yellowstone NP, for a week, so we'll see you there.

On to Bryce Canyon...

Our campground in Glendale, Utah, near Zion, was part of a working ranch. There were beautiful apple orchards in full bloom, and a big pasture where we could let the dogs off leash to run and explore. They loved their romps--new smells, room to really tear around, and even a creek that Max managed to get in when he got really hot and thirsty! This was certainly the dogs' favorite campground.

Bryce Canyon National Park--what an incredible place! Tuesday, May 5, we moved to a campsite nearer Bryce Canyon. After getting set up and taking the dogs for a good walk (Max is really excited about all the rabbits around here!), we drove to Bryce to hike and explore. So much unusual beauty it's hard to take it all in! At over 9000 feet altitude, we felt as though we were on top of the world! A one mile walk was pretty hard work at that altitude, but certainly worth it. Hope you enjoy our pictures.

Wednesday, Mike, Dick, and Julie went for a 2-hour hike down into Bryce Canyon and then back up to the rim that had them huffing and puffing! The weather was beautiful and clear. From along the rim of the canyon we could see Navajo Mountain 83 miles away! Ellen decided to stay back at the campground and take some time off to get dinner started in the crockpot, catch up on e-mails, knit, and read. We plan to go to Kodachrome Basin this evening when the light, shadows, and evening colors are supposed to be spectacular. Hope to get some more great pictures.

Thursday we head back toward Salt Lake City, where Dick and Julie have to turn in their RV on Friday. We'll drive with them to southeastern Idaho to pick up our new/gently used RV! It's the same length as this one--we didn't want anything longer--but has a larger slide which will give us more floor space. That has turned out to be somewhat of an issue on this trip; constantly stepping over dogs or each other's feet gets tiresome. Also, our new RV is better insulated, which will help in both cold and hot weather; and has a solar panel which will charge the batteries, and enable us to camp without hook-ups in state and national parks. We'll be busy traveling and "moving" over the next 4 or 5 days, so we'll see you next week!

After spending 4 surprisingly fun days in beautiful Ely, Nevada, we headed for Utah. Our campground in Provo had wonderful views of snow-capped mountains. Ellen flew out of Salt Lake City on April 23 and had a wonderful time in Kingwood. She got to spend time with those 2 precious granddaughters, including taking Mia out to lunch with her and watching Kindall at karate; had a great visit with Dan and Kristel; and enjoyed having Gwen with her for the weekend. Also saw many good friends! Mike and the pups managed just fine, despite 2 dreary days of rain. They went for some long walks along the Provo River, and met a friendly German Shepherd at the campground.

With Ellen back in Provo, our good friends Dick and Julie White from Washington/Idaho have joined us for a week of RVing. We drove to southern Utah and spent our first day sight-seeing and hiking in Zion National Park. What an incredibly beautiful place! Pictures are in Picasaweb: http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

We plan to visit Bryce Canyon and Kodachrome Basin, so I'm sure we'll be taking lots more pictures! See you in a few days!

Reno and Ely, Nevada

We left an unimpressive Reno, NV, last week after being stuck there by a late snowstorm. We did have one fun afternoon visiting the National Automobile Museum, the Harrah Collection. Over 200 antique and classic cars--Ellen's favorite was the 1908 Thomas Flyer that competed in a drive from New York City, across the U.S., across the northern Pacific Ocean, across Russia and all the way to Paris! The car has been restored to the way it looked when it finished the race. It was a fascinating place to spend a cold day.

We delayed our departure a day, hoping not to catch up with the storm! The drive from Reno to the tiny town of Ely, NV, took us up to summits of close to 8000 ft, through lots of snowy passes, but on good cleared roads. Ely was to be just a stop along the way to Salt Lake City, but is quite a gem. Our KOA is just outside the town, and there are snow-topped mountains everywhere we look.

http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

Friday and Saturday we went on some nice long walks, although we had to avoid mud from the melting snow. Sunday afternoon we drove 60 miles to the Great Basin National Park, but were disappointed that the roads were closed above 7500 ft. We had hoped to drive to about 10,000 feet near the top of Wheeler Peak (13,000+ ft) to see the Bristlecone Pine Grove. These twisted, stunted trees are the oldest trees in the world--several thousand years old! We got out at a campground at 7500 ft to go for a walk--Ha! There's no oxygen up there! Five minutes of walking up an inclined path had us huffing and puffing, even the dogs! There was quite a bit of snow on the ground, a beautiful clear rushing stream, and a wonderful view of the valley below. But a 30 minute walk was all we could handle.

Tomorrow we leave for Salt Lake City. We will be staying at a pretty campground right on a river in Provo, just south of Salt Lake City.
Ellen will see some of you in Kingwood at the end of the week. Mike and the dogs will be having wild times in Provo while she's gone ;).

Hi all! The picture above (which we didn't take) is of the Sundial Bridge--a really cool pedestrian bridge over the Sacramento River in Redding, CA. We walked the dogs over this bridge and on the really nice trails along the river several times while in Redding. There were mountains all around us, most notably Mt. Shasta. We were there for almost a week waiting for some mail to catch up with us, and so I could at least get our taxes to the point of filing an extension! The RV park we stayed at was on the Sacramento River, beautifully landscaped with good cable and wifi. We don't have any new pictures to post because we really didn't do anything significant other than the mentioned administrative things, as well as grocery shopping, laundry and a haircut. Didn't want to take a picture of Mike's latest prison cut!

We've had a couple of rainy days but overall we've been enjoying beautiful spring weather. We've worked really hard at avoiding winter weather as we've moved north in California. Yesterday we finally left California and drove to Reno, NV, working our way toward Salt Lake City, where Ellen will fly home for a visit next week. It was a beautiful drive (until we got out of the mountains and into the dry lakes and desert again) and sunny and 75. Imagine our surprise when we watched the evening news last night and they said that today we would be under a winter weather advisory! Right now it is about 31 and snowing hard and blowing. We may have to stay here an extra night just to ride out this storm and the poor road conditions. Lows are forecast to be in the mid-20's the next couple of nights :(. This presents problems with frozen outside water lines. We thought about back-tracking down I-80 to the Sacramento area where it is sunny and warm, but there is a wind advisory along I-80 for high profile vehicles (like ours) so I guess we will just hunker down and ride it out. The forcasted snow "showers" seem pretty hard to us, but hopefully it won't get too bad.

More to come!

We are still enjoying this beautiful campground, and our week here, despite rain Wednesday night and Thursday. Yesterday (Friday), after our walk with the dogs, we did our grocery shopping, then went to Agate Beach nearby. After parking high on a bluff, we had a long walk down to the beach; as we walked we kept thinking that we were going to have to climb back up that bluff! It was extremely windy; the waves were pounding and crashing. The beach was almost deserted, and is covered with gray rocks, some almost as fine as sand, others round and flat and smooth. There was also beautifully smooth driftwood of all sizes. The beach is so-named because of the agates! You have to look hard, but we found 4 small ones, about the size of jelly beans. Then came the climb back up the bluff, but we did fine. We're getting in pretty good shape!

Today we discovered a wonderful park in Arcata, near Humboldt State University. Arcata is a funky little college town that is decidedly weird. The park has miles of winding trails through a redwood forest. The redwoods love this climate, and this park, like others we've been in here in Northern California, is full of mosses and ferns, and is cool, damp and muddy. Of course, the dogs pay no attention to the mud!

Late this afternoon Mike went into Trinidad to buy a six pack of beer and while passing an overlook near Trinidad Head, saw a whale! We sat on the overlook for an hour or so near sunset watching the migrating Pacific Gray Whales. It was a beautiful view and a beautiful evening. Our pictures are here http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

We'll be here in Northern California until Tuesday, when we'll start working our way southeast.

Vineyards, wineries and redwoods

Our week in Petaluma brought more wonderful adventures. Early in our stay we drove back south to San Francisco and went to Muir Woods on the recommendation of friends and our daughter. The drive took us once again on a twisty, winding road which, again, was well worth it. We walked for about 2 1/2 hours through the gorgeous redwoods. Fern Creek babbles through the Woods; at one point along the trail there is a bridge that is actually built on a fallen giant tree.

We took advantage of being in the middle of the California wine country! One day we drove to Sonoma and were particularly interested in the Jacuzzi winery and its history. Another day we drove to Napa where the vineyards cover every hill, visited the Robert Mondavi vineyards and tasting room, and ate outside at a wonderful burger joint called Taylor's Refresher. The drive home took us on yet another twisting road, probably the narrowest, most winding yet!

We got to see another stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway, along the Sonoma Coast. The dogs went with us on this drive, and enjoyed a walk at a park way up high overlooking the ocean. I don't think they appreciated the view like we did!

Mike had a special treat when he found out that the SCCA was holding a Regional Race at nearby Infineon Raceway. It was Sears Point when we were here 30 years ago with our friends Tom and Laurie Mankin!

While we were still in Petaluma, Mia celebrated her fourth birthday! We got to talk to her, quite briefly; after all, she's only 4! Her other grandmother was visiting from St. Louis, and I know they had fun together.

Imagine looking out the windows of your RV and seeing the massive trunks of Coast Redwoods! We are now staying in the most beautiful campground, about 250 miles north of San Francisco, and very near the coast. The nearby tiny town is Trinidad, and is on the bay; we are a few miles north of Trinidad. Today, April 1, we took a short drive north, stopping at a national park information center--really interesting facts about the trees, the devastating logging that took place until the 1960's, and the Native Americans who lived here. We then took a 2 mile walk through the Lady Bird Johnson Grove of old growth Coast Redwoods. So spectacular! Ferns, trillium (3-petal shade-loving flowers), moss-covered fallen treetrunks, trees so tall you can't see the tops, trees so massive their diameter is greater than Mike is tall! See our pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

We hope to see more of the Redwood National Park, the nearby lagoons and beaches, and find a grocery store where a package of sandwich cheese is less than $6.00!

We celebrated Ellen's birthday at San Juan Bautista, going out to eat at a great Mexican restaurant--almost as good as Chachi's in Kingwood! During our week here, we discovered a beautiful county park on Coyote Lake, and took a wonderful long hike through twisted old oak trees and lovely meadows. The dogs' favorite part of the hike was the discovery of an old deer carcass!

One of the highlights of our week was a drive on another section of the Pacific Coast Highway--out on the Monterey Peninsula. On the way there, we stopped at Laguna Seca Raceway to look around, and got to watch some test drives: Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraris, Mustangs, Lotii and Minis! Thc pictures of our day are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3 What a spectacular drive overlooking the Bay and the Pacific Ocean! We both decided the 17 Mile Drive is one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen. In case any of you are interested, there are lots of houses for sale there. We walked around a bit at Pebble Beach, just to gawk.

One day we decided to check out another stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Cruz. It was pretty but I guess we're getting spoiled because it was less than spectacular, so we decided to cut inland at Half Moon Bay. We ended up on a little twisty two lane highway that runs through the redwood forest along the top ridge of the Santa Cruz mountains...in the fog! It was occasionally clear enough that we got some gorgeous views of the whole South Bay area including San Jose and Palo Alto. It was Friday afternoon so there were also lots of bicycle and motorcycle riders enjoying the drive, including a pack of 6 or 8 guys on hopped-up mopeds.

Some asides about our trip so far: When you're RV-ing, an $18 haircut is just as good as a $40 one. The huge eucalyptus trees that are all over California shed their bark in long strips like a peeled carrot, and even though the leaves are long and slender, they smell just like that stuff you can get at Michael's. Almond and cherry tree orchards are gorgeous when they're in bloom. Driving up a mountain hugging the cliff side is much easier than winding back down on the outside lane looking down into steep canyons. You can't successfully brush a hairy dog when the humidity is below 30%. From Max: those ground squirrels are much hard to catch than our tree squirrels at home. From Gracie: being on the bed is my rightful place and I can't believe you'd put up that baby gate when you leave us in the RV. Peacocks are not welcome alarm clocks at 6:00 a.m. Even though we're technically on vacation, we still have to do laundry and go to the grocery store!

Tuesday the 24th we moved up a little north of San Francisco to a pretty KOA. We're close to wine country, Muir Woods, and more Pacific Coast Highway. More to come so please stay tuned. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here or email us.

We are currently between San Juan Bautista and Gilroy, CA near the Monterey Peninsula. We're a little south of San Francisco and San Jose, and looking forward to driving some more of the California coast. Mike wants to see Pebble Beach, and the dogs are hoping there's another dog beach somewhere! It's beautiful here--high, green rolling hills and lots of cherry and almond trees and vineyards (of course).

In case you were wondering...Gilroy is the Garlic Capital of the World! There's also the largest fruit stand in California here--Casa de Fruta--and an enchanting place called "Casa de
Something for Everybody." Honest!

We got here Saturday after visiting Matt and Anna in Bakersfield. We had a great dinner with them and enjoyed playing catch with Quinton. Unfortunately Marcel was sick and the poor little guy slept on the couch almost the whole evening. Enzo looks great, maybe a little grayer but still going strong (kinda like us ;))! He remembered Mike and was really excited to see him, and to hear about his ol' flyball pals.

Okay, we're waaay behind on our updates, but we've been busy and having lots of fun.

We drove from San Diego right through the middle of Los Angeles on I-5 to the little farming town of Santa Paula just east of Ventura. The drive was less than 200 miles but with the traffic it took us around 4 1/2 hours! Santa Paula is a really pretty little farming town; there were LOTS of citrus groves all around us, and many strawberry fields. We stayed at an RV park a few miles outside of town that was more like a state park, it was so beautiful! We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway one day to Malibu...beautiful! There appear to be lots of high priced real estate for sale in Malibu.

The next day we took a whale watching tour from Ventura out into the Santa Barbara Channel near the Channel Islands National Park. We were lucky--it was a beautiful day and we saw quite a few Pacific Gray whales. These whales migrate each year from the Arctic to Baja to mate and have their calves, and then back again to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. It's a 6,000 mile round trip they make every year. We also saw pelicans, seals, sea lions, and enjoyed watching the dolphins play around our boat. We posted lots of pictures in our web albums; check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

Right now we are in Paso Robles about midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and inland about 25 miles. This area is definitely wine country. We have visited several of the hundreds of wineries, and enjoyed the free wine tastings! The weather here is ideal for vineyards, lots of sunshine, warm days and cool nights. We also took a long drive up the coast highway to Big Sur and Carmel and back. It was another beautiful day, the scenery was spectacular, and driving the highway itself was quite an adventure! The elephant seal beach was a fun surprise.

Tomorrow we're on to Bakersfield to visit our flyball friends, Matt and Anna, then we'll be moving up the coast to just south of San Francisco, near Monterey. See you in a week or so.