180th day; yup, 6 months on the road.  And we picked a good one to be away from WNY, according to all the remarks about the snow in that area.

We, on the other hand, are in the desert, in Desert Hot Springs, where it is warm, and then hot, during the day.  This is a big resort for 55+ people, and most of the population is permanent.  They leave a few spots for itinerants like us. 

While I was reading Morning Prayer this morning, at 7:45, there were many people carrying tennis rackets or golf clubs coming up to the courts and driving range at the end of our cul de sac.  All the seniors seem to be in good shape here, probably because of tennis, golf, swimming (they have 6 hot springs, 2 of which are full-size swimming pools), and walking on the desert.

Snuggles had a great time at the fenced-in dog park yesterday.  There were two friendly dogs there that gave her a merry chase.  She wasn't the least bit scared of them even though they were much bigger than she.  And she kept up with them as they ran and ran around the dog park.

We had a wonderful time with the congregation at Yucca Valley, St. Joseph's.  Two of the women remembered that we had been there before!  We went out to lunch with their "lunch bunch" and enjoyed the camaraderie.  The latter is something we both miss, as we rarely get the opportunity to really connect with other people.

Stay warm, all you who are under snow.  And stay off the roads!  Here, I have to watch out for golf carts, of which there are many.

Where it is chilly at night (in upper 30's last night) and warm during the day, in the 60's yesterday.  It is supposed to be warmer today.

We have enjoyed traveling around the desert during the day in the Honda, looking at the weird and amazing rock formations in the mountains, and coming back to the coach in the late afternoon for a "social" and watching the sun go down behind the mountains.

For my artist friend:  You would love the Artist's Drive, a one-way road into the lower mountains where you can see all the colors the mountains have to offer.  There is a pull-off at a spot called Artist's Palette that is incredibly "painted" with many colors of minerals.  I took pictures, but I'm sure they won't tell the whole story.

Yesterday it was Scotty's Castle, a replica of a Spanish castle built in the desert, tucked into some hills, by a wealthy Chicago businessman in the '30's.  It has a great story that I will tell another time, as my battery is getting low (the computer's, that is).

Dave paid for internet for 24 hours so that he could do the banking and I could catch people up with where we are.

Ron and Fran:  we are sending you another postcard DVD.  Please share it with the 4th Street Cafe', OK?

Love you all, Sandra

From Pahrump, NV, about 45 miles west of Las Vegas.  Yes, it is a real place.  The internet is sketchy, however, so this will be very short.

We spent several days in Zion National Park, where we didn't have any WIFI or other services (like water, elec., etc.)  It was beautiful there.  We had a great time at Grace  Church, St. George, UT on that Sunday, including a pot luck dinner.

We are in a Casino RV resort here in Pahrump.  Very nice park, with a little manmade lake that our coach faces.  Snuggles loves barking at all the people walking their dogs around the lake.

We'll be here until Monday morning so that we can attend church at St. Martin's.  Fr Ed Lovelady knows some people there, so we'll bring greetings from him.

Dinner was here in our coach, as our family is all together in Maryland at our youngest son's house.  We Skyped for a few minutes, but the connection wasn't very good.  We'll try again tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a great holiday.  Now it is time to make a couple turkey and dressing sandwiches, Dave's favorite part of the holiday.

God bless you all.

On November 9, 1979, a group of 200 men, women and children, with 80 wagons, led by horses, and with 1000 head of cattle, left Escalante field, about 4 miles from our campground, headed for the other side of an imposing 2000 foot sheer rock wall, over the Colorado River, to the other side of the San Juan River. 

They were very late to begin this journey, which they thought would take 6 weeks, but took 6 months.  They had to build a wagon road on their way, including one through a hole in the rock (Glen Canyon wall), down the other side of the wall 1800 feet to the Colorado.  This road, going down the sheer face of the rock wall, was blasted out, just wide enough to hold the inside wheel of a wagon.  Holes were blasted out of the rock and oak poles were placed in the holes, the gaps between filled with mud and grass and whatever, making a road just wide enough to hold the outside wheels of the wagons.

They made it!  The amazing thing (one of the many) is that no one died, and a baby was born on this journey.  They lost cattle only to feed the band during the heavy winter; otherwise all the livestock made it too!

Our adventure?  We wanted to see this "Hole-in-the-Rock", so we took off, after inquiring about the condition of the dirt road, across this "field" to drive within 6 miles of the Glen Canyon wall.  After that, we were told, the road was so rocky, one really had to have a high suspension vehicle.

This field?  It looks so flat and simple from the main road.  In actuality, it is a landscape full of deep gullies, steep hills, washes, and other impediments.  We jounced along, marveling that wagons could make this trip.  And we weren't anywhere near the grueling part of the journey!

We stopped at Devil's Garden, enjoyed the hoodoos and other strange rock formations and continued on.  About 5 minutes after leaving Devil's Garden, the road deteriorated.  I mean, big time.  Dave threaded our way over deep wash-outs and gullies, skirting crevices, and finally, when we had driven for almost another hour, we came upon a flat place and made the decision to turn back.

We had driven 7 miles from Devil's Garden in that hour!

We returned to Devil's Garden and had our picnic lunch, wondering about that band of hardy Mormons who had made this trip in the winter, with wagons, building a road along the way.

The little town of Bluff, Utah, on the other side of the Colorado and the San Juan Rivers is still full of the descendants of this amazing journey.  They are considered "Hole-in-the-Rockers", and are very proud of their heritage.

I was glad to be back in my modern-day coach, safe and sound.

We leave for Zion National Park today; there is a storm coming tomorrow and we want to be through the Grand Staircase, past Bryce, and snuggled in a campsite before it hits.

November 18, 2010, 10:15 a.m.

Yesterday we drove the Burr Trail, about an 150-mile round trip.  We drove over the gorge we had driven the day before; not nearly as scary in the Honda!  Then we picked up the Burr Trail about 28 miles out of town.

This trail took us over red rock ridges, gray rock ridges, and into deep canyons, along rivers.  We traveled over High Desert again, with its Torrey Pines and junipers, and miles of sagebrush and rabbitbush.  We finally turned around about 5 miles into the area that is dirt road, just beyond where a gully wash ha washed out the road.  The NPS had repaired the road, but you could see the damage.

It's interesting: it takes only 1/4 inch of rain to create a flash flood!  And what damage such a flood can do.  There are warnings everywhere against driving in spots that are subjected to flooding when the weather is iffy.  Luckily for us, it's been beautiful every drive.

We had lunch overlooking the deep canyon where we had turned around.  We were in the High Desert, sitting in a grove of pines and junipers, the bright sun warming us up in the very cool breeze.

Imagining JOhn Burr, for whom the trail is named, driving his cattle up and over these rock ridges (500 feet in some cases), down into the canyons to the High Desert and its abundance of grass each spring and back each fall:  it's amaziing to think about.  No roads, of course, just John, a couple of cowhands, and his cattle, twice a year, traversing this terrain.  Hardy stock!

Today we hope, if the road is decent, to go across the plains to the Hole-in-the-Wall, a famous trail of early Mormons.  I'll explain it after I've seen it!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 6:40 p.m.

Interesting drive today; beautiful in spots, harrowing in others, and sometimes boring!  The trip north from Moab on 191, once we left the Red Rocks, was across the flat plains with occasion real sand dunes, left by the inland sea that covered it a million years ago or so.  But once we got on I-70 to drive West, it was boring.

Miles and miles of blah colored flat places and dirty-looking ridges.  Then, we turned SW on 24 and it all changed again.  Flat plains (we were traveling across the San Rafael Desert), but with more of the muted colors we are used to in the High Deserts.  Then, little by little, as we approached Capitol Reef National Park, the Red Rocks began to appear again.  The San Rafael Reef leads up to Capitol Reef National Park.

Things really got interesting (read, scary) when we turned west on Rte 12:  here we were often traveling on a narrow road with deep gorges on either side.  This road has 1. very sharp curves, 2., steep ups and downs, and 3. NO GUARDRAILS and precious little shoulder.  It is NOT my favorite kind of road.

I forgot to mention that we climbed a high pass, with Torrey Pines and Yellow Birch, up to 9600 feet.  There was snow on either side of the road, but the road itself was dry.  At one point the downgrade was 14%!

But, now that I am safely here in Escalante, and have had my dinner, I can say that except for I70, the drive was extraordinarily beautiful.

Yesterday I noted that I would be talking about Snuggles, and then got sidetracked by my sadness over the child who lost his life on 191 in Moab.  Snuggles is trying to learn a new game, called "fetch", where, instead of playing keep-away, or tug-a-war when she retrieves the toy, she drops it so that we can throw it again.  She does NOT get the concept.  She goes after the toy , brings it back, drops it, but when you try to pick it up, she grabs it again.  We then ignore her, until she finally leaves the toy, and the game starts all over again.  So, I'm not sure WHO is learning the game!

Yesterday, when I was reading Morning Prayer, Snuggles was in her usual seat on the dashboard, "helping" me.  The two big black campground cats came over and paraded up and down in front of the coach.  Snugs went crazy.  I couldn't calm her down.  She ran back and forth on the dashboard "talking" and barking.  The stupid cats would NOT leave.  I was tempted to let Snugs out without a leash, but I thought better of it.  It would have served them right, but I may never have been able to Snugs back into the coach.

She's stretched out on Dave's leg that is crossed over the other right now, head resting on his foot, her front feet hanging down on either side of his foot, her back end across his lap.  This is her favorite position, especially in the evening.  She's really too long for his lap these days, but she squeezes in, appendages hanging off.

That's it from Escalante, Utah.  Tomorrow we take the Honda and go back over some of that same road to drive the "Burr Trail".  I'm not sure what this means, but I AM sure I have to deal with those gorges again.  It won't be so bad in the Honda.  I hope.

I know, I know, I've said that before, but this time we really mean it; tomorrow (Tuesday) we leave Moab.

Church yesterday was bittersweet.  I noticed that many of the Hispanic congregation was in attendance, which is one of the great things about St. Francis.  However, Fr. Dave then told us about a terrible tragedy that happened on Saturday.

Dave and I had wondered about the traffic tie-up on the big highway between here and the town.  Obviously a truck, dragging a small trailer, was off the road.  Two and a half hours later, the road was still blocked by police and photographers.

One of the young acolytes at St. Francis had been struck by that truck and killed on the highway.  What a sad thing!  Several kids had spent the night together (most of the St. Francis kids), and were running across the highway to someone else's house.  The first kid made it; Giovanni didn't.  The others had to see this terrible accident.

Fr. Dave is also Moab's mayor; he prayed not only for the family and for the church family , but also for the community.  It is a small one and just about everyone knows everyone.  I also am praying for the poor truck driver.  He must be in great emotional pain.

St. Francis will rally around the stricken family; I hope the truck driver also has a church family to surround him and comfort him.

As for the other kids; I hope they learned a lesson that day.  It's a hard one, and nobody would wish it on anyone.  But if it makes them careful, then something good will come out of this terrible accident.

When I returned from town and the laundromat, someone had put balloons tied to a teddy bear and a small cross on the spot where the child was killed.  I expect there will be more memorials there today.

God bless the children; and hug yours today.

This is a friendly town.  It is full of energetic young people who are into healthy living and exercise of all kinds, but especially the out-of-doors.

Consequently, the town is full of interesting places to shop, eat, and just hang out.  We've had breakfast twice in a little restaurant appropriately called the "Eclectic Cafe".  In one way, it is a leftover from the 60's, but also carries some real antiques!  The food is great; the coffee choices can stand up to Starbucks any day.

Then there is the Moab Coffee Roasters:  organic, free trade coffee, with some light food offerings like organic tomato-with-lentil soup.  They also carry an amazing collectionof batiks from Indonesia, all made for the 20-30 somethings, of course.

Moab Brewery features their own beers and an interior decoration made up of every outdoor sport known to man or woman.  It's a hangout for the young, but the food is delicious and the beer great.

The Old Geezers sell their own sausage, as well as some of the finest cuts of meat any where.  Oh, and organic, free-range fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving.

The Book Store is a favorite of mine (I HAVE to stop buying books; I've already had to ship a big box of them to my daughter's to keep for me).  I like to just go in and browse and talk with the salespeople.  Remember Carolyn Seymour's wonderful book store?  This is just as friendly.  They have coffee, of course, and a hot spot for lap tops, and some art supplies.  They are knowledgable about the area and are willing to chat when not too busy.

Today, I went into the "general store", which has everything one could wish for, except for food.  I bought a dish drainer to replace the one we inadvertantly baked in the oven, a hand vac to try to get ahead of the Snuggle-hair, and three men's hankerchiefs ( Dave REFUSES  to use Kleenex).  There wasn't too much I couldn't have purchased there; and attached to this store (named Walker's Drug Store, by the way) is a True Value, in case you are in the market for heavy duty hardware.

I also stopped in at St. Francis' yard sale.  I had hoped to find an old metal dish drainer there for pennies, but all they had was a plastic one.  As I've already baked two of those in the oven, I passed it up for the metal one at Walker's Drugs.

On the way home, I picked up another pound each of the wonderful bacon and sausage and ground round from the Old Geezer's.  When Dave wakes up from his nap, I will grind some more of the Anaconda Dark Roast coffee beans I also got today.

Did you get the heavy stress on organic, free trade?  This is the area for all of that, plus homemade, handmade anything and everything.  Now, I have to have some of that coffee I've been talking about.  It is still in the low 40's, even in the bright sun, and coffee is called for.  Besides, I can't just sit here and smell it; I have to have some!

November 10, 2010,7:36 p.m., Wednesday

We've been incommunicado for several days because we were dry-camping in a lovely BLM campground on the Colorado River.  It is named Goose Island, but the "goose" calls one hears are really Ravens.

Directly in front of the campground, across the Colorado, is a huge redrock wall.  Across the road on the other side of the campground is another redrock wall.  The canyon between is just the width of the road, the campground, and the Colorado. 

We stayed there for a whole week, driven back into civilization only by the need to empty waste water tanks and fill the fresh water tank.  During the days we would tour the area, including the Arches National Park (amazing) and Canyonlands National Park.  The latter is in three distinct sections; we toured the two that are accessible by road.  The third is a hiker only "Maze" of redrock canyons.

We will stay here in the private campground through Sunday, most likely, as we both really like the Moab area.  Our next goal is Escalante National Park, which is south and west of here, across more mountains.

It snowed this afternoon, a wet snow that didn't collect anywhere.  However, the La Sal mountains, to the east of us, have much more snow than they had last week.  So, winter is coming, and we will have to watch the weather as we head west.

November 1, 2010;  November already?!  Happy All Saint's Day

We are home from a wonderful drive up into the Red Cliffs and around the base of snow-capped mountains.  What beautiful country this is!

We stopped for lunch at the top of a pass, looking down into the valley and the Red Cliffs beyond.  I wonder if puppies have to "pop their ears" like humans do?  We had to several times on this ride of 36 miles in 3 hours.

Yesterday we joined the congregation of St. Francis for service.  It's a small group, but very diverse.  They have a special Spanish Mass on Wednesday nights, but many of the Hispanic congregation come on Sundays, also.

Coffee hour was resplendent with MANY wonderful things to eat, all decorated for Halloween.

Dave and Snuggles are taking a nap after our long drive, and I think I will, too.  The coach smells wonderful, with a beef stew in the crockpot.  I should have pleasant dreams!

Slow day today; Dave and Snuggles took a long nap, and I washed puppy things.  Finally, we took a ride through the nearby Red Rock canyon.

 The Colorado River created this particular canyon.  The rock cliffs go straight up from the river and the road that hugs the river.  From one of the lookout points, you can see dinosaur tracks; tracks of a VERY LARGE bird-like dinosaur.

I think I've mentioned several times about the gorgeous weather we have enjoyed since leaving the Alaska caravan (except for the Oregon coast, which we viewed through rain and fog).  Well, tonight it is raining, hard, and the wind is fierce.  I hope it clears tomorrow.  We want to go either tomorrow after church, or the next day to the Arches National Park, which is about 5 miles south of Moab.

Snuggles had a couple "down" days, when she only wanted to snuggle and sit on our laps, very unusual for this very lively puppy.  We think it may have been the high altitude.  Both Dave and I were pretty worn out for a few days, too.

However, she has rallied today; eating well, and wanting to play.  When I brought home her stuffed toys from the laundry, smelling of Bounce, instead of Snuggles, she wasn't sure about them.  But she got over it and now is playing with Dave.

So, all is well with the Holy Rollers.  I'm looking forward to church tomorrow at St. Francis Episcopal Church, where they have an Hispanic Mission.  BTW, the area we are staying in is called Spanish Valley.   I have to find out why.

Hugs to everyone.  Sandra

We left Custer, S. Dak. October 22, driving to Colorado and a lovely campground in Jackson Lake, CO.  We had intended to go to Leadville, CO, the next day.  However, as usual, the Holy Spirit intervened and sent us to a truck repair service outside of Denver.  We had heard some strange noises when Dave braked, so we hunted up some help.

Three days later, two nights in their parking lot, we had new brakes, and the information that Leadville was reached only by going OVER Mt. Eisenhower, and through the Vail pass, which had had MUCH snow the day we were supposed to be driving there!

Also, Leadville was expecting 10 degrees that night.  So, with the help of the service manager at the Freightliner Service Center, we checked out the weather on other routes, and yesterday we drove over another high pass, 11,312 feet, but further south, into Gunnison, CO.  It was a beautiful drive, and the road was nearly all dry, except for the very top of the pass. 

We stayed overnight in Gunnison Lakeside RV, on Blue Mesa Resevoir, where the temperature went down to 10 degrees!!!  But we weathered it without any pipes freezing, etc., and today drove to Moab, Utah.  The drive was gorgeous, over several lower passes, good weather (beautiful, actually), the red rocks against the bright blue sky, and the few aspens still holding their golden leaves shining in the sun.

We glad to be here, however.  From my catbird seat, I can see a big mountain range of white-capped peaks.  From our dining room table, we can see the red cliffs. 

We'll be here a few days, so I'll have this good internet service.  We need this kind of a break; complete with electric, water, sewer, and internet, none of which we had in the truck service parking lot!

Praying for our friend, Jay.  I keep an eye on everyone through FB, and we are appreciative of the e-mails we get from St. Luke's.

God bless, everyone!

Actually, two busy days.  Yesterday we drove the twisty, turny, 16A up to Mt. Rushmore.  It was a beautiful drive on a very tiny road.  Thank goodness we were in the Honda!  There were two "pigtail" bridges, where the road turned around and went under the bridge after we passed over it.  There were two tunnels in the black rock.

Mt. Rushmore was impressive; the development at the base of it, with cafe', ampitheather, viewing platform, etc., etc., is a bit over done, but all in all it was well-worth the drive.

We then went to the unfinished Crazy Horse monument.  It is amazing, even more so because the sculptor and the Native Americans will NOT accept any financial help from the US Government.  It is done all through a foundation that includes the deceased sculptor's wife and 7 of their 10 children, plus others.  It will be magnificent when it is finished.

Today, we drove on another twisty turny road through some incredible rock formations call the "Needles".  This had many wonderful views of these strange formations, and two tiny, barely 8-foot wide tunnels.'

Tonight, we returned to the Crazy Horse monument for the light show.  This was also wonderful.  The admission to the show was three cans of food per person.  I didn't get an opportunity to find out where the food goes, to the tribe, or to a food pantry.  But I liked the idea!

Now I am finishing a book about Crazy Horse's life, written by a Lakota.  It is very interesting and hits me again, like so much of this trip, how badly we treated our Native brothers and sisters.  All in the name of Manifest Destiny, and hiding behind what was called "Christianity".  Shameful!

We are resting in Buffalo, WY.  What a magnificent ride today!  We climbed up to Powder River Pass, about a 15-mile pull, through the Big Horn Mountains in Big Horn National Forest.  The ride up was breath-takingly beautiful; the 20 or so mile down was still interesting, but not as amazing as the other side of the Pass.

 This is one big beautiful state.  It seems every corner has something to be amazed at.  I tried to get pictures of the Buffalo Bill Dam yesterday, but the sun was in the wrong place.  The gorge there is.....I've run out of superlatives, again, just like in Alaska.

Tomorrow we make the longer haul to Custer, South Dakota, 183 miles from here.  There we will hopefull find a campsite open, unhook the Honda, and drive to Mt. Rushmore.

Oh, today, on the top of the Pass, there was SNOW on the northern roadsides!  If we had left yesterday....Well, we didn't, thanks to my insistance on attending church on Sundays.

Dave feels stronger everyday.  I drove a bit today, to give him a rest, but he gets bored sitting in the passenger's seat, so I never drive very long.

This is the first rain we've seen in weeks.  We have been incredibly lucky with the weather.  The desert needs it, however, so we don't mind.

The service today at Christ Church, Episcopal, in Cody, WY, was great; they used the propers and Great Thanksgiving for Children's Sabbath.  The children did everything but the gospel (read by a retired Bishop), the sermon (given by said Bishop), and the celebrating.   Lots of kids in this parish.

We were invited to join at a luncheon being given by the J2A middle school class.  We accepted, gratefully, and gave our donation and chose a number that gave us a spot at a table.  It was a strange set-up:  the tables in the middle of the room were decorated with tablecloths and candles; our table and the rest of those around the room were not.

The children read the Mark version of feeding the 5,000, prayed, and then the meal was served.  ?? !!  The center table got lovely salads, fresh rolls, steak, baked potatoes, and the rest of us got.....CREAM OF WHEAT!!  It took a second for all of this to hit us.  Everyone was good-natured about it.

Interestingly, the CHILDREN at the center tables, the lucky ones, shared their food with their friends at the other tables.  The adults DID NOT.  The middle schoolers came out, then and asked about how we all felt about this.  The conversation was good, although by now the little kids at the outlying tables were making a lot of noise about their Cream of Wheat, so it was hard sometimes to hear.

I told Mary, the Rector, that that was a heck of a way to treat out-of-town guests!  She laughed (she was at our table, as was the Bishop), and said it was the luck of the draw.

BTW, the proceeds will go to an orphanage in Sierra Leone that the church helps to sponsor.

The Episcopal Church is alive and well in Wyoming, thanks be to God!

 PS:  we came home and I made sandwiches for a REAL lunch!

The area around Old Faithful is beautiful, full of little geysers.  I snapped and snapped pictures.  Old Faithful is beautiful even when not erupting.  I snapped and snapped pictures.  Finally, after waiting for over an hour, the big moment came.  I aimed my camera and !!?>??nothing?  I couldn't get the durn thing to work.  I put it down and just enjoyed the eruption.

Later, I tried the camera again, and the batteries were dead.  There is a warning, but I missed it.  Ah well, it is etched on my memory!

Today we left the expensive RV place and drove back through Yellowstone, thinking we would unhook at a visitor center and drive up into the Canyon.  We were both too tired to do that, so we kept on driving right out of the East Gate of the park.  This route takes you around Yellowstone Lake, and we did see a herd of bison on the way.

Now we are in a wonderful campground not too many miles from Cody, WY.  It is supposed to be closed, but the owner said come on in.  It is much cheaper than the last one, and in a beautiful spot in the high desert.  Here, the aspens and willows are still in full color, and the mountains are very interesting and strange.  In fact the drive from the East Gate through these mountains was exceptionally beautiful.

Maybe we'll go into Cody tomorrow, and maybe not.  We'll see how we feel.  We are both tired tonight.  The altitude doesn't help.

Dave was released by the doctor today.  Everything is fine, and he is allowed to drive the RV.

We moved from Hoback Junction, south of Jackson, to an RV park north of Jackson, but still 30 miles from Yellowstone.  The one campground that can take a rig our size is full!  Usually this is the very low time of year, but this year the weather has been gorgeous, so people are taking advantage of it.

 We'll spend the night here, and decide in the a.m. what to do.  This park is very expensive, so we don't want to have to be here too long.

I may not have internet until Cody, WY, after Yellowstone.  I'll catch you all up there.

Dave was able without problems to drive us to this new campground where we have all services.  I drove the Honda.

We spent 5 nights in the St. John's Hospital parking lot, with only electric, so it's great to have water again!

Resting today; tomorrow we see the doctor and then, if all goes well, we leave for the 50 miles drive to Yellowstone.

It's raining today; hopefully no snow in the immediate future!

Wrote two entries tonight: neither show up.

Dave had gall bladder surgery here in Jackson, WY.  Great hospital, great church family.  Hope to be on the road to Yellowstone on Tuesday.  Dave is feeling like himself, again.

This is my second one tonight; first one kicked off.

Dave had emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder here in Jackson, WY.  Great hospital; great church with supportive members.

Hopefully on to Yellowstone after followup doctor's appointment on Tuesday.