Study in Contrasts

After several days in Albuquerque to experience election night and visit with Robert, we headed south and east on our way to Thanksgiving in Dallas with Allan, Jamie, Brian, et. al. We walked down into the ground 750 feet to wonder at Carlsbad Caverns, and waited for the bats to fly (they didn't, the consensus was that they had headed out the night before and kept moving south.) and then drove into West Texas (where it wasn't so cold at night that our pipes might freeze) and discovered to our delight that we were near McDonald Astonomical Observatory, so we spent a day on their mountain top looking at the stars and listening to lectures on the research they are doing there. Lovely, all of it. As an added bonus, we are camped at Balmorhea, a humongous aretisian spring that pumps 20 million gallons of water a day out into a huge pool and adjacent wetlands. The water stays at 74 degrees all year long, and is a popular place for scuba divers to test their equipment and skills. The pool itself was built by the CCC and is more than 20 feet deep in spots with little fish and turtles swimming around in it.

Lake Cochiti

We stayed for ten days at a Corp of Engineers site above Lake Cochiti 25 miles from Santa Fe. We divided our days between hiking, kayaking, shopping in Santa Fe (dangerous!) and trying out our latest hobby. We've taken some of the abalone shells we gathered in California and shaped and polished to make zipper pulls, an amulet, and earring. (Yes, only one so far.) Judy shapes and polishes, Frank drills the holes, and we both have learned to loop the wire ties. Of course this necessitated buying new tools, silver wire--- The next thing we want to try is inlaying turquoise and abalone in wood pieces. Who says you need a workshop? A picnic table works just fine.

Santa Fe

What a place! We hiked through golden aspen in the mountains to the north, lucked into an art festival on Canyon Road in Santa Fe, talked with potters and painters everywhere,-- they are always so generous in sharing their techniques. Museum Hill is a delight, with four museums on Indian and Colonial art clustered together, and the docents know everything about Santa Fe history. We only wish we had lots of money to buy jewelry for everybody. We've been staying in a park close to town, and now will move to a lake a little further out to balance the budget, then over to Albuquerque to visit with Robert, and watch the election. We have been connected through the internet, but have missed the give and take of discussions with friends. The picture is of two musicians at the art festival who were playing in a courtyard in front of a gallery.

Grand Canyon and Flagstaff area

We had a wonderful time on the north rim, Judy went down the north Kaibob trail by mule, and we hiked around the rim on the Windforss trail, which is a ten in beauty and only a five in difficulty. Then we spent a memorable nght on the beach at Lake Powell, where we decided that camping parkin lot style is really not us, no matter how nice the water, and on to Flastaff, where we spent a week in town at an established park revelling in electricity and laundry facilities, and getting the truck serviced, and then out here to a US Forest site, where we are almost the only campers, look out on to a meadow and have miles of trails out the back door. Oh, yes. This is us. And we even have internet and phone coverage. The picture is from the entrance to Walnut Canyon, a beautiful little narrow canyon tucked into a bend on the Arizona Trail.

Bryce Canyon

We were smiling in this picture, but when we got back to camp we were really dragging. It was our most ambitious hike to date, 6.4 miles with 2325 feet of elevation gain, that's 2325 down and 2325 back up. The scenery is amazing. The erosion has carved out shapes and spires that stretch the imagination. Really a worthwhile day. Tomorrow we will be moving closer to the Grand Canyon, hoping we can find a place to camp. Indications are things are still very full.

zion

We were totally blown away by Zion. What a wonderful place. It has everything. Awe-inspiring sandstone cliffs, a narrow carved canyon accessible only by wading in the river carving it ever deeper, ferns growing from rock seeps that are releasing rain that fell on the area thousands of years ago. We walked with a ranger in the full moon and learned about the great horned owls. The two pictures show the Watchman and a view down the canyon from the emerald pools. We didn't take any pictures going up the stream unfortunately, because it was spectacular. We are at Bryce Canyon right now, taking a morning off and making bread. It is nice to have cooler weather here at 7000 feet.

Fort Bragg, California

Yes, we know. Five monthso into our trip and we still haven't left the west coast. But there's a reason for that. First it was too cold inland, and then it was too hot. We m ay have blown it, since it is 90 dgrees here at Clear Lake, but we want to get to Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon beforeo snow flies. Fort Bragg was great. We pulled in at the beginning of their 69th Labor Day Paul Bunyan festival and cheered on he pole climbers, two man saws and chain saw competitions. That's Erica you see wielding a chain saw. The only woman to compete in all the competitions. Thereh was also a tour of local artists with some wonderful potters and jewelry artists. The teapot is Judy's favorite of Cliff Glover's work. Frank got to fulfill his dream of abalone hunting. Here you see them heading into the water. He got ono with a beautiful shell which we have polished. The abalone tasted great fried up with lemon and garlic. The strangest thing about Fort Bragg is glass beach. Yes, it is glass. Years ago, Fort Bragg used the ocean as its dumping ground, and the glass over the years has broken and then been polishd by wave action. Now it is a tourist mecca for those looking for white green and brown polished glass pieces for craft projects. The perfect solution for a dump. Get the tourists to carat it away. In a thousand years, will people wonder at the three colored sand grains on this beach?