Campsite at the Grand Canyon

It is not uncommon to see these magnificent wild creatures wandering around the campsite oblivious to any of us humans. They pass right by our campsites without a care in the world. Even the campers are so used to seeing them, they don't seem to even notice them.

 

There were 5 of these elks in a cluster just a little ways from our RV

 

 

 

 

This elk was right in front of our RV. Our cats watched them from our windows.

 

The Grand Canyon

Pictures just don't show the awesome beauty of the grand, Grand Canyon.

 

Awesome!

So beautiful!

Too Awesome for words. You've just got to visit the Grand Canyon to see for yourselves.

 

This is our whole motley crew overlooking the Grand Canyon.

Petrified Forest

This is the Petrified Forest where there are many logs of the petrified wood. Some were very colorful, depending on the particular crystal  created at the time it was petrified. It was illegal to pick any pieces of the wood, but pieces of all sizes and colors could be purchased at various gift shops here and all over Arizona. We were able to afford a couple pieces from the owners of our campsite.

These particular logs were quite large and beautiful.

This log has been reinforced with a concrete foundation. It was very large. Created from a fallen petrified tree across a span of rock. It is called the Agate Bridge.

This is a section of petrified log found by an individual who polished it and donated it to the National Park. It weighs over 800 poundsl

More of the petrified forest. Joe and Sue stopped for a picture.

 

Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

Here is Bob in front of the Painted Desert Inn. The original façade was made of the petrified wood. It proved to be unstable and was reconstructed by the CCC as you see it here in the adobe style architecture. There was lots to see inside. The architecture inside was awesome.

This area in the Painted Desert was called the Teepees. You can see why.

More of the teepee structures.

 

 

Joe and Sally. The Painted Desert behind us.

Wish I could enlarge this picture. The Pueblo Indians drew pictures on the rocks. There were several areas of the writings and drawings, so called the Newspaper Rocks. Sorry, they can't be seen in my picture, but they are there. Get out your magnifying glass.

Bob took this picture. It shows the desperate plant trying to grow through the very dry earth.

This old car apparently was just left here along the old Route 66. If you look close, you can see the empty telephone poles that lined Route 66 in it's time. It is now part of the Painted Desert.

 

Arizona

This was a typical terrain seen as we were leaving New Mexico.

This was the campsite we stayed for 2 nights. Behind me is the famous Route 66. There are many areas where you can still drive on it. Can often be seen in areas right along I-40 on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Our first night at Root 66 campsite, we all chipped in and had a wonderful steak dinner. Joe and Sue bought a rib roast and made 6 big fat juicy steaks. Shin made the world's best home-made biscuits.(Wish I had one right now.) We had corn on the cob, fresh green beans, baked potatoes and coleslaw.  We had great weather.

Here we are at the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert Center. We saw some Awesome terrain. I assumed all my life, that the Painted Desert was different colored sandy areas, but I was surprised.

 

This was in the pink area of the Painted Desert. Note the volcano looking area in the middle of the picture.

 

 

O

The botanical gardens were beautiful. I even recognized many of the plants. Everything was well cared for, but our favorite part was the cacti arboretum. There were hundreds of exotic varieties of cacti. Some even in bloom.

Many of the cacti were in bloom
 



Huge Cacti Arboretum







 

Day at the Albuquerque Zoo

We had a beautiful day to visit the great Albuquerque Zoo, Botanical Gardens and Aquarium. First we took a 30 minute train ride to the zoo. The conductor was x-military so all our guys had plenty of stories to share on the ride over.

 

 

My favorite part of the zoo was the reptile exhibit. Most of us are deathly afraid of snakes, but are fascinated by them behind the thick glass.

 

Big Yellow Snake
 

There were many baby animals, but the cutest were the day-old baby giraffe and the baby hippo.

 

 

 

 

More Old Town

Side show

All around the center of town were these very tall figures for the festival celebration.

There were bands, music and dancers. We watched these small girls swirling their pretty skirts.








Really tall figures
 

 Shin, Jack, Sue, Joe and Bob. The whole group except for Sally taking the picture. We had a beautiful day to shop and enjoy the festivities.

Old Town Albuquerque,New Mexico

Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico is so cool.  Every business façade is typical adobe structure.  Lots of pretty flowers and bright colors. This weekend was a special festival. There was a parade and speakers. The center of town had booths set up where they were selling authentic articles such as jewelry, pottery, leather goods and clothing.

 

Typical store front in Old Town

Kirtland AFB, New Mexido

Stayed at the Corral RV Campsite in Guyman, OK. It was nice, but cold. We got up early to our next destination, Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Typical New Mexico terrain
 

The New Mexico terrain is desolate, rocky, bumpy like no other terrain I've ever seen. We traveled I-40 into Albuquerque where the famous "Route 66" could be noted along the right.

Famous "Route 66"
 

Yesterday, we visited the Sandia Casino. We had a good time. I felt lucky to walk away $25 richer, with a deck of cards and fountain pen.

Joe and Sue took us to the Commissary grocery store. I love to grocery shop and found good prices. Joe is retired military, Lt. Commander in the Navy, so we got groceries on his ID card.

We will be here for a few more days. Sure hope it warms up. We are headed for Vegas next.

Visit with Tom & Betty

Tom and Betty Smith came to our campsite and took us to their lovely home in Raytown, MO.  We then went to a great Chinese restaurant. I wasn't surprised when I read my fortune cookie.

"You will always be surrounded by true friends".

Bob's cookie was no surprise either.

"You are admired for your adventurous ways".






Betty, Tom and Bob
 

Joe had his truck worked on and Jack had his flat tire fixed.  We should be on our way in the morning to parts unknown.  Our first plan was to go to Colorado, but we don't want to run into snow. We are taking the southern route.  Stayed tuned.

Day 3 and 4 of our journey

We left Jonesburg about 8:30 and arrived a Jacoma Campgrounds around noon. Everyone has a problem. Bob got hit by a stone and has a crack starting on his windshield. Jack lost a hubcap and ended up with a flat tire. Joe had an idiot light come up and being Sunday had to wait until today to take it to the Ford place. It's really gonna cost him to get it fixed.

Are travel plans are all changed because of snow in Colorado. Have to stay here one more night and then go south towards New Mexico.

One good thing, we met up with Tom and Betty Smith. They are fellow Dolphin campers. They took us out to eat at their favorite BBQ and it was delicious. Tom just called and they are going to stop by and we'll think of something to do.

Day 2 of our Journey across America

We got a late start today. Had a problem with the brake cable getting stuck. Thank goodness the 3 men were able to work it out. It took about 1/2 hour, but we finally got started.

. If that's the worst thing that can happen, we'll all be very lucky.

I thought this was a pretty neat bridge somewhere in Kentucky, so I'm sharing it with you. Sometimes pictures don't do justice.

I was excited to see the Gateway Arch for the first time. It's just amazing to see in the distance and even more spectacular closer up.  Soon after the Arch, we saw the Busch Stadium, home of the famous St Louis Cardinals.

We arrived at our campsite in Jonesburg, MO around 3 PM. Joe started a great campfire, and we roasted hotdogs, Sue's Calico Beans and I made mac and cheese. Then, we had Smores that Theresa had individually packaged up for us. The marshmallows were "Easter Peeps". Soooo good.


St Louis Cardinal's Busch Stadium
 



Gateway Arch in St Louis





 

Our first stop, Grand Rivers, Kentucky. Left Tennessee at 9 AM. We arrived in a nice pull-through campground. Temperature this morning is 48 degrees F. Next stop: Jonesburg, MO.

All 3 of us. Halls in the middle
 

Charles Hall Museum in Tellico Plains, TN

Due to bad weather in the west, we all decided to start our journey on Friday instead of Tuesday. We all met in Tellico Plains, TN to visit Cousin Charles Hall and his wonderful museum there.

Charles Hall Museum and Gift Shop
 

One of the wonderful displays is an Avon collection donated by Bob and his sister, Sue.  It's fascinating to see.  Sue is showing her Sister-in-law, Shin.

Sue and Shin

Jack, Shin, Sue and Joe by the antique toy collection

 

 

Bob, Charles, Joe and Jack by the gun display