Wrapping Up 2012

The photo above is the very first photo I took in 2012.  Sunset in Arizona.  Me taking a photograph of a sunset--go figure.  I guess I should start a blog post about our year's travels with a photo of a sunrise but oh well.

 
First, the boring facts; we traveled 7,019.9 miles this year with The Beast.  We started the year in Arizona and ended it in South Carolina.  We visited the Pacific Ocean coastline and have stayed three months on the Atlantic Ocean coastline.  During our cross country travels Denny and I stayed at forty-three different campgrounds in eighteen states.  Of those forty-three campgrounds, twenty-two were membership campgrounds or affiliated with our member parks so we either stayed for free or at a greatly reduced ($10 a night for example) price.  Of the remaining twenty-one parks, I'm sure probably one third of those were Passport America parks where the cost of the stay is discounted at 50%.   We don't boondock, dry camp or spend the night in Walmart parking lots.  When counting up our restaurant stops I was surprised to see that Denny and I tried one hundred and nine different restaurants, cafes, diners or bars over the course of a year.   Hmmm, I can see right now where we could cut our expenses a bit!  I think Denny and I managed to play about ten new golf courses before I injured my back.   And as is usual with The Beast, we had numerous repairs to be made to the furnace, to leaking slide outs, lights, propane regulators and hoses and right at the end of the year the microwave/convection oven blew for the second time in one year (thank goodness for extended warranties.)

Ah, but the good part of traveling by RV comes next; we saw full moons over the ocean, over rivers, over lakes and over the desert.

Over the past year Denny and I have seen birds and critters and flowers galore, except when we specifically went to see something special like the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve where there were no poppies.  Sigh.  At the Mesa flea market in Arizona Denny splurged on a pair of 20 x 70 binoculars and boy have we had fun with those.  They allow you to see rock climbers and soaring birds and things you just wouldn't be able to see normally or with a regular pair of binoculars.

  

During this year's travels in California we were finally able to see the Lone Cypress and to drive Seventeen Mile Drive in Monterey.

After fourteen years on the road we finally made it to Yosemite National Park.

And the Reno/Lake Tahoe area.

I rode a duck for the first time in Wisconsin Dells.  It was there that I slipped and fell, ending up with compression fractures in two vertebra which ended our travels for six weeks while we saw a back surgeon and had our normal check ups with our family physician and dentist in Ohio.  Because it was so uncomfortable for me to ride in the truck for the long distance to our hometown from our campground Denny and I didn't get to visit with as many of our friends and family members that we would have liked.

After the back surgeon cleared me for travel Denny and I headed north to visit both sets of sons and their families before turning the nose of the truck towards Myrtle Beach.  Our intent was to check out homes in the area as a possible location to settle down, but when we found a place that we liked Denny and I found ourselves getting cold feet about the whole idea of staying in one place.  Together we realized that there are still coastlines to explore, lakes to picnic beside, bends in the roadway to follow.  Yes, if we bought a house we could always fly or drive to other areas and stay in motels but traveling in a RV allows us to take the cat with us without worrying about her care (or if she's clawing her caretaker to shreds), sleep in our own bed, cook local produce in our own kitchen and enjoy having a different view out of our windows every week.

So while we will continue to look at houses as we travel I have a sneaking suspicion that at the end of next year we'll be nestled among the saguaro cacti with a view of the Superstition Mountains out of the rear window of The Beast.  While missing the sound of the surf at Myrtle Beach.  And so it goes....

Getting Partially Around Custer State Park

One of our favorite state parks is Custer State Park in South Dakota.  The last time we were here was the week of September 11 in the year of 2001 so that was a very weird and somewhat somber time to be visiting Mt. Rushmore and Custer SP so we thought we'd visit the park at a different time period.  I was surprised that the park wasn't more crowded with tourists, but then again, we were still suffering through 100+ degree heat here in South Dakota.

The visitor fee of $15 per vehicle might seem a bit steep until you realize that it allows you access to the park for a period of seven days; not bad.  This time around we entered from the eastern side of the park and headed south on the Wildlife Loop.  It wasn't long before we discovered one of several large herds of bison blocking traffic, so we settled in to take some photographs and a couple video clips.

This one makes you think of the buffalo nickel, doesn't it?  These guys are huge, weighing about a ton.  If you see a lone male buffalo, they are normally the older males who have fought for their herd of females and lost.  The older, losing male will then spend the rest of his days alone.

The bison have no fear of vehicles and simply amble across the roadway at will, assuming traffic will stop for them.  The truck pulled off near the center left of the photo below is a park ranger with a whip (I asked if it was to force the tourists to move along and got a grin from him).  I assume the whip was to assist in getting the bison to move if they blocked traffic for too long or created too much of a back up.

The wild donkeys are descended from animals that were once available for trail rides in the park.  When that business was closed, the donkeys were simply let go to live free in the park.  They are the park's beggars and will pretty much eat anything that's offered to them.

This little guy was not only adorable, but his coat was unbelievably soft.  He accepted pats and ear rubs but still preferred mom's milk to any treats being offered.  That's mom poking her head into the picture on the lower right.

Circling west and then north you arrive at Needles Highway.  There are three tunnels on this route, the smallest being 8'4" wide and 12' tall and the next smallest being 10' wide and only 10' tall.  It was at the 10' tall tunnel that we saw a Class C RV trying to figure out what they were going to do because they were too tall to enter and the roadway behind them (2 lane) was a long series of hairpin switchbacks.  I will say that when you enter the park you are given a booklet that has a map that lists all the interior roadway, all the tunnels and all the height and width limitations on said tunnels.  So no excuses for folks who get stuck.

 

 Needles Highway was named for the tall spires of rock jutting out of the ground in this section of the park.  It's quite a change from the rolling hills of the Wildlife Loop.

Can you see the resemblance to a bear in the yellowish rock below?

This time around we only saw bison and pronghorn antelope.  Our last time through we also saw big horn sheep, although there are also mountain goats, elk, and a couple of varieties of deer that live in the park.

Originally there were 50,000 forested acres in the park.  Wildfires have burned 23,000 of those acres, some of that thanks to the pine beetles that are killing the trees, turning them to tinder.  Trees that have been damaged by the pine beetles turn red/brown like those below and whole mountain sides are covered with these dying trees.

If you enlarge the photo above, you'll notice the kayakers.  This is Sylvan Lake, where there are boat rentals and a beach for swimming as well as hiking trails and picnic tables.  Another nice area for a picnic is by Legion Lake.  There are several campgrounds within the park, most of which have at least a few electric sites and fishing is permitted after you purchase a license.  Rock climbing is also permitted within the park and there are ranger talks and children's programs as well.

This bridge is actually located on Hwy 16 north of Custer State Park but is attractive because it's made of wood.  Somehow the huge beams were bent (I assume by soaking in water) and formed into these huge arches.  It's a lovely piece of work.

There is so much to see and do in the Rapid City area but I have to admit, I think I prefer the area after Labor Day when the crowds are a bit smaller.  I'm sure we'll be back to this area again.

Time Flies

Suddenly two weeks have flown since my last post.  I think after seven years of blogging I've just lost interest in doing this on a regular basis.   Plus, this past week Denny and I were in Albuquerque to visit Denny's sister and running errands and accomplishing some of the tasks she had planned for us took up a lot more of our time than we budgeted for and I didn't even get a chance to get together with my ABQ blogging buddy.  That made me sad.

Settled high in the hills east of Albuquerque we were in time for some late blooming cactus.

There was also a nesting pair of hairy woodpeckers in the cottonwood tree on our site.  It bothered them to no end to have Patches sunning outside right below their tree while the two of them were trying to feed their little brood hidden inside the tree.  On our last day in Tijeras the little ones apparently flew the nest because for the first time in a week the incessant chirping/begging had stopped.

There was a partial lunar eclipse early one morning.  I had forgotten to take the tripod out of the truck and it was too early to be banging truck doors to get it out so I had to go with hand held shots of the moon.  I'm a lot shakier than I used to be so the photos lack the sharpness I was hoping to have.  This shot had a tiny bit of cloud cover moving in.

This was of the tail end of the partial eclipse since I woke up too late to see how "partial" partial was.

But all work and no play make the Brauns a dull set of folks so as a treat Connie drove us up to Santa Fe one day.  Denny and I both fell in love with the architecture of this historic town.  Although we weren't enamored of the prices of the items being sold in the many stores in town.

Under the roof of this long open air building sit a double row of Native Americans who have laid out their wares on blankets on the sidewalk to sell.  The craftsmanship of their work is exquisite and I wished I had a lot of throw away money to spend on the jewelry alone.

Long ago I had read the story of the famed staircase of the Loretto Chapel.  When the Chapel was built there was no room for a staircase and it would have been too difficult for the nuns to climb a ladder to the choir loft so they prayed to St. Joseph for assistance.  A workman appeared a few days later and built this beautiful staircase (originally there was no bannister) without the use of nails and with wood that apparently appeared from nowhere.  When you try to envision this staircase as it was built, without the handrail, you can see what an engineering marvel it is.

Outside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis there is a statue dedicated to Kateri Tekakwitha, the only Native American to be named a saint.

While our week went much too quickly, Denny, Connie and I were able to knock out the items on Connie's to-do list and enjoy some good meals at the Savory Fare and El Patron restaurants in Albuquerque and at Bobcat Bite in Santa Fe.  Win-win.

Next up, wild fires in New Mexico and Colorado--all the way up to our next two destinations.