The Way Out - East to West

Now that we've been home with time to look through the pictures it's like taking the trip all over again.  Another benefit is getting to see some of the details that we missed while taking the pictures.

 



 

The dogs seem to be saying "enough of this, let's get back on the road!"  To say they traveled well is an understatement.  There was simply no problem.

 

Check out the shades.  Just the right amount of bling!

 

This was our first campsite at Red Rock State Park, just west of Oklahoma City.  There were just a handful of the sites in use and only one other tent.

 

 

A hot breakfast to start the day in Oklahoma!

 

 

This was a very "pretty" park and we would have liked

to spend a little more time there.  Early spring was peeking

out everywhere.

 

Lux accomodations.

 

Endless beautiful views.

 

Santa Fe was a feast for the eyes!

 

American Indian Art Museum in Santa Fe.  The one drawback

to traveling with the dogs was that we couldn't tour any of the museums.

However, there was so much art and many of the galleries

were dog friendly.  In the end, we felt like we had spent museum time just

touring galleries.



 



 

This is the Church of St. Francis of Assisi.  There was

much beautiful architecture of many styles.

 

 

Awesome dragon sculpture.

 

 

Breakfast in New Mexico.



We stopped at a Catholic mission in Laguna, New Mexico just west of Santa Fe.  Laguna is an Indian reservation and we received a guided tour by a fellow named Alfred.  He explained the history of the mission and his family along with a performance on a handmade flute of an original song he had written honoring the memory of his mother and the saint Katrina.

 

 



 

The next stop was the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park.

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of birds, one current and one from the past.

 

Can't tell if this guy is happy or sad.

 





According to the information in the park, much of the petrified wood

has "disappeared" over the years.  Even the crystal structures from

the petrified wood pieces have been taken.  The slow disappearance

continues and honestly, you can understand why.  It takes a lot

of self control to resist the temptation to take "just a little piece"

of beauty home with you. 

 



 

Another beautiful sunset.

 

An Afternoon at Red Rocks

 

We spent an afternoon travelling around Red Rocks including a stop at recently renovated visitor center.  We had been there a number of years ago on a previous trip, perhaps with Keith and Sarah when they resided in Vegas.  I think that I enjoy the yearly return to this area nearly as much as I do to the Outer Banks.

 

 

I never get tired of the vistas, no matter which way you point the camera.

The visitor center provided an opportunity to see this desert tortoise in its natural surroundings.  Couldn't get him to face the camera in a timely manner.



 

There was a lot of information nicely displayed.  Adam and LeAnna found a great deal of the texts regarding the desert plants particularly interesting due to their possible house purchase.

 

 

I think Adam is still growing taller!

 

Our gracious hosts.

Valley of Fire & Road of Snow

We reluctantly left Blue Diamond mid-afternoon Sunday after getting a last minute tour of a house Adam and LeAnna are considering purchasing.  LeAnna has already posted some pictures on her blog, so I will move on with what has transpired with our trip since then.  We drove through the Valley of Fire NE of Las Vegas near Lake Meade.  Adam had taken me there on a previous trip, but Karen had never been and it was certainly worth revisiting.

Red Rider doing well, although we would like a little better gas mileage.

Because of the late start we were only able to do a couple of short hikes and unable to spend much time in the visitor center which has some very nice explanatory displays.

Everywhere you look there are pictures begging to be taken.



One of the hikes featured a number of petroglyphs scratched through the varnish on the rock face.

Despite the dry winter there a number of desert plants doing their annual display.

Time to gather our poop and hit the road.  Because of our late start we spent the night in St. George, Utah with the plan for getting up early the next morning and heading into Rock Springs, Wyoming by early evening with maybe a couple of short stops along the way.



We started early Monday and jumped off of I-15 to drive a scenic loop (recommended by Adam) through parts of Zion NP, that would eventually connect us back near Cedar City to continue our trek north.



Truly breath-taking vistas all along the way.

About 2/3 of the way (and at approximately 10,000 feet of elevation) to Cedar City we began to drive through patches of snow across the unpaved road along with some pretty wet and muddy sections.  We handled them all pretty well I thought, until this one, which it turns out is the last one we would encounter.  This one turned out to be much deeper than the previous ones and the truck simply did not have enough clearance or speed to make it through!

Karen did yeoman work hauling and packing rocks for traction, but it took 3 new best friends (Travis, Nick, w/his dog Duncan & Doug), their truck with tow straps, a drive through the pasture and 4 hours later we were in Cedar City .

Red has a new trim color!

We did make it to Rock Springs late in the evening and after a couple of visiting days with Malia, Ryan, Megan & James we'll be heading home, without any more snow!

A Day at Mt. Charleston

Wednesday, after a gentle start to the day, we mobilized for a trip to Mt. Charleston.
It is a climbing, hiking, camping area about 45 minutes from Blue Diamond.  It was
a beautiful day, unseasonably warm, as the temperatures here are running 10 to 15 degrees above average.  Not a great situation for here but totally awesome for those
of us who have endured the unending winter of the northeast!

Adam and LeAnna did a little climbing.  We all did a little hiking and the dogs thought they had died and gone to heaven!  We may have to leave them here.  (Maggie is in love with LeAnna.)  The funniest part of the whole day was when we got to the bottom of the trail and Arlo was missing - mind you, it was only funny when we realized that he had gone all the way back up to the climbing area and we saw him heading all the way back down.

All in all, a beautiful day.  Hope you enjoy the pictures!  Love to you all.

 

Beautiful!

 

I love how the mountains peek through the evergreens.

 

It was difficult to get Maggie to stay in one place for a pic.

Pat finally had to pick her up.

 

LeAnna's turn to climb.

 

Tree of the Day 

 

The dogs LOVED it!!

 

Adam takes a turn.

 

Lightening Strike