Bill and Debbie's Blog

Back Home in North Carolina.

2011-10-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

We made it back. 7,000 miles and about 40 days. We had great weather except for the first few and last few days of the trip when it rained. It was great haveing unseasonally warm weather in Yellowstone since it often is snowing by this time. We have a lot more photos and will add some more of them.

Devil's Tower, Caves, Badlands and Nuclear Missiles

2011-10-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

We drove across Wyoming to the mysterious Devil's Tower. We watched several climbing parties working up its vertical cracks. We went into South Dakota and did tours of Jewel and Wind Caves. Custer State Park was nice and Bill climbed Mt. Harney, the highest point in the state and the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains. We continued on into the Badlands National Park. The landscape is beautiful in a weird otherworldly way and we did some backcountry hikes and camped in the remote Sage Creek Campground which featured buffaloes wandering through it.
As we left the park, we stopped at the National Minuteman missle museum and signed up for a tour of one of the underground command centers which has been decommissioned.

Yellowstone National Park

2011-10-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

We spent four whole days in Yellowstone. We saw every geyser and geothermal feature that you can see near the road. We were pretty lucky to see a lot of wildlife including bison, elk, mountain goats and - a really rare and big treat, grey wolves. Bill visited the barracks that he lived in when he worked in the park in 1970. He also road his bike up Mount Washburn, which turned out to be a lot longer and steeper than he had anticipated. The animals, waterfalls, geysers, mountains, natural bridges, Yellowstone Lake (one of the largest high altitude lakes in the country) and great vistas really make this a special place. Only a few of the campgrounds were still open. The weather was perfect - 70's in the daytime and around 30 at night. This is one of the most visited national parks, but it is a lot less crowded than during the summer.
We are now in Cody Wyoming and are headed for Devil's Tower and then the Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

Crators of the Moon and Tetons National Park

2011-10-01T14:46:00.001-07:00

Here are some shots at Crators of the Moon National Park in Idaho and some from our hike in the Tetons. I saw my first moose in the U.S. It was a bull, just off the Cascade Canyon trail out of Jenny Lake. Just south of Yellowstone, we foung a great free National Forest Service campground and I found out about a natural hotspring not far away. The spring was totally remote and so we could not resist a soak "au naturel".

2011-09-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

We spent four great days in Glacier National Park. The weather was very cold, windy and rainy. We still did some great hikes up to some alpine lakes. The Many Glaciers area was supposedly the place to see grizzlies and we did! On a hike to Red Rock lake we saw a mother with two cubs on the other side of the valley. We were not close enough to get a photo, but we got a pic of a black bear the next day foraging on the side of the road. On the last day, the weather broke and we went from daily highs of 43 degrees to 75 degrees. The night time temps are still in the low 30's though. After Glacier we camped in a remote Forest Service campground that we had all to ourselves.

Out West Again!

2011-09-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

When you see miles of sage brush and a BIG sky, you know that you are in the West again. After a frosty night near Minot, North Dakota, we camped next to the Peck Lake in Eastern Montana. This is one of the largest man made lakes in the U.S. and we were completely alone in the rustic, free campground. Tomorrow we head to Glacier National Park.

2011 Trip West Has Begun!

2011-09-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

We finally are in a small state park in the middle of Minnesota called Lake Bemidji State Park. The best thing about it is that it has a rockin' WiFi.
The first three days were spent pretty much driving through heavy, cold rain until we got to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The sun came out and the weather warmed from the sixties back into the eighties. We stayed at four state parks in the UP -all on shores of one or another of the Great Lakes. We did a little hiking and biking. Yesterday, in the Porcupine Mountains, I took off for what was supposed to be a ten mile easy mountain bike ride on an established trail system. The trails were overgrown and looked like they had not been ridden on in years. I followed them to the top of a ski mountain and then down the ski runs and then back up again. I scared a coyote and several deer in my path and ran out of water. I finally got very lost and wound up pushing and carrying my bike two miles through underbrush, over deadfall and finally made it back to our camp with twenty miles on my bike computer and at least ten bleeding cuts on my legs - thus a typical Bill hell biking adventure.
Debbie likes her new Dahon folding bike. It takes about a minute to unfold from a tiny size to a great riding bicycle.
The UP of Michigan is basically empty wilderness. I was surprised. It looked like some of the remote parts of Canada that we have visited. There are funky little towns with friendly people and lots and lots of rivers, lakes and water falls.
Tomorrow we should be at least halfway across North Dakota and then on to Montana and Glacier National Park.

2011 Florida Trip - Northeast Coast

2011-02-17T12:52:00.001-08:00

At the end of January, we left for Florida. It was about 30 degrees in Raleigh and we had had some of the coldest weather that we remember. We had a pleasant drive south on I - 95 (such a contrast to I -95 north of Virginia- one of the worst roads for traffic and construction in the country!) We spent the first night at Hunting Island, a delightful state park right on the SC - GA line and right on the beach. Our next few nights were at St. Augustine FL where we visited the oldest fort and oldest European town in America. We saw the first of the many armadillos we would see everywhere on out trip.

Florida -east central coast

2011-02-17T12:50:00.001-08:00

As we went further south, the weather got warmer, but still dipped into the forties at night. We blew by the big cities like Daytona and Miami on our way to the Everglades and the Keys.

South East Florida

2011-02-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

We loved Jonathan Dickinson State Park. This park has nine miles of the only "wilderness" river in Florida. We saw gators, lots of osprey and a night heron among other wildlife. We took a boat trip up the river to see the hideout of an early twentieth century hermit, Trapper Nelson who lived off of the land here.

The Everglades

2011-02-17T12:06:00.001-08:00

We spent four days in the Everglades National Park. We took a ranger led canoe trip where we saw lots of alligators, but to our delight, swimming not far from our canoe, we saw our first american crocodile - all fourteen feet of him. Again, we saw many new birds such as the Anahinga. We got an especially close look at a mother Anahinga feeding her fledging chicks in the nest. We thoroughly enjoyed the bug free warm weather.

The Keys

2011-02-17T11:35:00.001-08:00

We spent a number of days exploring the Keys, especially Bahai Hondo and Key West. Bahai Hondo was a beautifful state park. It has one of the few nice beaches in the keys. We watched the Brown Pelicans diving for fish and noticed a lot of Portuguese Man-Of-Wars washed up on the shore. We were a little disappointed in Key West Town. We expected more of a laid back, Carribean island atmosphere and instead felt like it was just like all of the other cheesy beach towns along the atlantic coast. There were some interesting historical sites and some old houses. There was also a bar that offered a "clothing optional" rooftop lounge, but the place was basically full of cruise ship tourists visiting t-shirt shops.

Florida - Northwest Coast

2011-02-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

We continued up the coast to Rainbow Springs, Manatee Springs and the Suwanee River state parks. We saw many birds including two fledging bald eagles in their nest as well as the very uncommon Florida Scrub Jay. We especially enjoyed seeing our first manatees in the wild in the crystal clear waters of Manatee Springs.

Back on the East Coast - Fort Clinch

2011-02-17T11:09:00.000-08:00

This was a fort built during the civil war to protect the San Fernandino harbor. The state park has a nice beach, long fishing pier and lots of armadillos.

Last Night Out

2011-02-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

Here's our camp on lake Marion in SC. Unlike everywhere in Florida, the campground was pretty empty. Here's some shots of a redheaded and a pilated woodpeckers - both fairly uncommon.

Going Home - Again.

2010-08-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

We drove straight home from Ottawa. We spent a night on the shore of Lake Ontario and another night in a little known national park in Maryland called Catoctin Mountain National Park. Anyway, here's some sunset pictures that we took.

Heading South

2010-08-22T15:24:00.001-07:00

We made a side trip to Aiguebelle National Park which features a unique rift valley that has created two steep sided lakes. We did some nice hikes including one that went up a clift and then straight down via a vertical spiral staircase. Another hike crossed the rift on a hanging suspension bridge.

As we turned the bow of our ship south finally, we headed down highway 113, which was labled as " route isolee". It was very isolated with no fuel or even towns to speak of until we got closer to Gatineau, which is the Quebec side of Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

We tried to find a place in Ottowa to park and see the city, but it was so busy and the traffic so frantic that all we managed was a drive through downtown and a visit to the Canadian Aviation Museum.

Chibougamau Bound!

2010-08-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

As we headed up the famous "Route de Nord", a 400 kilometer dirt road that links up with the James Bay road, which is another 400 kilometers up to the Huson Bay, we encountered this monster. These logging trucks pull two trailers with a total of some ten axles and the logs are stacked at least 15 feet high! Their dust trail is at least a kilometer long and they do not slow down for anyone. The prudent traveler is well advised to pull over as far as possible and stop until this behemoth passes.

I am not throwing up. I am just eating the wild blueberries that we picked along side of the trail. This is blueberry country and we actually watched a commercial harvesting operation which involved driving lawn mower size machines through basically wild fields and hand packing the berries.

We followed Route 167 up to the town of Chibougamau. The rather lonely looking visitor kiosk guy told us about the commercial campground, but then marked some spots on our map where we could "bush camp" for free. We found a nice spot on Lake Chibougamau where several fishermen had been dug in for awhile. We watched some kids fishing off of the bank catch a two foot long Northern Pike and release it unharmed. I guess it was too small for them.

Lake Saint John

2010-08-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

We continued up the Saguenay River to its source, Saint John's Lake. This is an almost perfectly round lake 23 miles in diameter. It is a big weekend getaway spot for Quebecers from the big (and hot) cities further south. We checked into a busy campground right on the lake and actually went SWIMMING! The water was surprisingly warm and with the wind and the waves it actually reminded us of the Atlantic Seashore.

Deeper into the Saguenay Fjord

2010-08-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

As we continued up the fjord from the Saint Lawrence River, we stayed at a remote salmon fishing campground on the Petite Saguenay River. Here are some shots of the scenery along the fjord.

The covered bridge was on the main route into the "River of Eternity" section of Saguenay National Park. I was nervous about trying to put the Great White through it so we took a long detour into the park. It turns out that the bridge, as were two others that we found later are built tall and strong enough for our 6.5 tons and 12 foot height. Since the bridges were all made of wood, They built a roof over them to keep them dry and prevent rot.

The Saguenay, the great fjord of North America

2010-08-09T14:48:00.001-07:00

This is a typical backwoods quebecois shower. Like the sign says, they call it "la douche" in French.

Note that the Quebec flag is always flown above the flag of Canada.

The Saguenay River makes its way to the Atlantic via a great fjord which was carved by the ice age. This huge waterway actually freezes solid in the winter and the Quebecois drive over the frozen water. They tow ice houses out and form whole towns to fish under the ice. In summer, the main activities are fishing, kayaking, sailing and hiking some very steep trails.

Into the interior of Quebec

2010-08-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

Low tide on the St. Lawrence Estuary.

Swinging bridge over the Petit-Saguenay River.

House built on a small island in a remote mountain lake in Grande Jardins National Park.

Snake number two. If you want to find snakes just hike with Bill!

The lichen that grows here is the main food of the caribou. It is light and fluffy looking and really looks like snow on the ground. I have never seen anything like it in the Rocky mountains or even in the artic in Alaska.

We said goodbye to the Gaspe Peninsula and crossed over the St. Lawrence River and headed up the north shore. We stopped for three nights at the Grande Jardins National Park. Although not far from the sea, the park was situated at about 2,000 feet above sea level, which at this latitude is equivalent to the top of Mt. Mitchel in North Carolina (6,000 feet). It got down to 40 degrees at night and was around 70 degrees in the daytime. The whole area was formed by the impact of a meteor several million years ago. It is estimated that a meteor of 2 kilometers in diameter caused the fifty kilometer diameter crater that defines the region today. We hiked numerous trails and of course I saw my second "rare" Canadian snake - there is only one species of snake in Canada.
Today we are in Petit-Sauganay camped along a famous salmon river. Hiking along the river, yes, I had a third snake slither across my path.
As we rounded the Gaspe Peninsula, we found fewer and fewer English speakers. Now on the north shore it seems that it is rare to encounter anyone who is comfortable with English. Even the park personnel who everywhere seem to be bilingual would only speak French with me. I love Canadian French. The accent is more natural for an American. I am amazed at how well my French has come back - not having spoken it in years.

Seashore and Mountains - Northern Gaspe Coast in Quebec

2010-08-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

Wilderness survival food. I guess this will have to do until we are back in civilization...

I'm glad I did not meet a logging truck here!

Moose Attack!

We left Fourillon National Park, which is at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula and headed west along the northern coast. We saw beaches, light houses and charming little fishing villages. We then dropped into the interior to Gaspe National Park where we camped in absolute wilderness. We climbed several peaks and even had a moose cross our trail at very close range. This is a land of beautiful waterfalls, crystal clear streams and trees,trees and more trees. I have included some pics of the survival food that we had to subsist on. This is really roughing it! We finally found an unlocked wifi spot and I am racing my battery to get this photos uploaded. Next stop - Bic National Park on the Saint Laurence River and then Quebec City for a few days of civilization. After that? Who knows? Maybe the frozen north.

This is a small herd of caribou that I saw on the summit of the peak Mont Jacques-
Cartier. These are normally found much farther north, but this is about the only population south of the St. Laurence River.

This lighthouse is where Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the shortwave radio, set up his apparatus and successfully made the first trans atlantic radio transmission.

If you have looked at our blogs of past trips you will know that I ALWAYS see snakes. It is especially rare to see a snake of any kind in Canada - even a harmless garter snake.

Canadian Maritimes 2010

2010-07-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

We left hot hot North Carolina for the cooler north of the Canadian Maritimes and discoverd that they are going through a record breaking heat wave of their own. We dashed up through New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to take the ferry over to Newfoundland and found to our dismay that the ferry was booked solid for over a week. We therefore changed our plans and spent several leisurely days exploring the beaches along the Northumberland Strait. New Brunswick, although considered anglophone Canada, gradually becomes more francophone as one travels north. Today we traveled the length of the Acadian Peninsula and are resting in Caraquet, New Brunswick. We might as well be in France as that is all everyone here is speaking.
We plan to head deeper into "France" and tour the Province of Quebec beginning with the Gaspe Penninsula and eventually making our way up to James Bay in the extreme north. (Polar Bear Country). Here's a few pics that we have taken so far.

Trip Over - Too Bad

2009-05-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

We got back to Raleigh on May 19th. Bill the rode the Divisidero trail outside of Taos, New Mexico, where we also visited an old mission church that has been well kept. From New Mexico, we pretty much drove I-40 all the way back. We did stop for a few days in Palo Duro State Park in Texas which has some great mountain biking. They also have some big wild turkeys that woke us up with their mating displays and gobbling. We stopped at Red Canyon State Park in Oklahoma which was actually more of a big ditch than a canyon, but again, this is Oklahoma which is supposed to be flat as a pancake, so I guess that they can call it a canyon. We did a brief stop over in the Osark Mountains of Arkansas where a group of armadillos wandered through our camp. I wonder where we we will go next.

Santa Fe

2009-05-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

We spent three days camped at the Black Canyon Forest Service campground just a few miles outside of Santa Fe. We hiked a trail out of the campground and spent a day touring the Governor's Palace - the oldest continually occupied public building in the country ( since 1610!) Bill rode the "Dale Ball" mountain bike trail system as well as part of the Winsor Trail, considered to be one of the best and most challenging rides in New Mexico. To ride bikes on trails out here, you need to bring lots of water and have thorn proof tires.

Bandelier

2009-05-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Bandelier National Monument is northwest of Santa Fe and like Canyon de Chelly, it contains a beautiful green canyon where Native Americans and their ancestors have lived for centuries. The unique thing about this area is the fact that the Indians enlarged the caves that are naturally formed in the volcanic layers by erosion. They built peublo structures in front of these caves to form multiple storied buildings high on the south facing wall of the canyon. One of the sites, Alcove House, we reached by climbing up a series of wooden ladders until we were 150 feet up the cliff face. The bottom of this canyon had a beautiful little creek shaded by groves of cottonwood and ponderosa pine trees.

Even More Canyon de Chelly

2009-05-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Throughout the canyon we could easily see evidence of the many trails used by the Native Americans to climb out of the canyon to the mesa top. In the first pic you can see the foot holds carved into the canyon wall.

More Canyon de Chelly

2009-05-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

Canyon de Chelly

2009-05-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Venturing further south still on the largest Native American reservation in the country, we arrive at Chinle Arizona. This is a small town at the mouth of an idylic, oasis-like complex of canyons that stretch nearly forty miles. Again access is only permitted while accompanied by Navajo guides. This catch is that there are no roads into the canyons! Access is only through a sandy wash which while dry most of the time, was completely flooded during our visit. The guide companies use war surplus all wheel drive troop trucks to haul their vistors through the water and sand. There were times that I thought that we were on a boat rather than a truck. The canyon is full of ruins dating from around 1,000 years old to some more recent. There are also innumerable pictographs and petroglyphs dating from the Anasazi period to more modern Navajo occupation of the area. This is a unique national park since it is administrated by the National Park Service, but the land itself is actually owned by Navajos whose ancesters have farmed the small plots for centuries.

Added Treat In Monument Valley Tour

2009-05-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

As we did in Arizona two years ago, we again almost stepped right on a rattle snake during our tour with Gary, our Navajo guide. He said that he rarely saw one, but that he wanted to gently remove it from the area since he did not want anyone to encounter it the next time he brought people to the area.

The Sacred Valley of the Navajos

2009-05-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

After a quick stop at Goosenecks SP where we saw an incredible view of the meandering Colorado River (this is the spot where Thelma and Louise drove off the cliff in the movie), we entered the Navajo Indian Resevation and Monument
Valley. We camped right at the edge of one of the most breath taking views in the world. The local wild dogs imediately came over to ask for a handout. That afternoon we hired a Navajo guide, Gary, to take us into Mystery Valley, one of the lesser visited parts of the reservation and only available to outsiders if accompanied by a native guide. We spent four hours climbing into caves and stone arches containing Anasazi ruins dating back almost 1,000 years. We savored the quiet of desert and the awsome landscape. Gary added to the moment by chanting in his native toungue and playing his cedar flute.

The Swinging Steak, Mexican Hat, Utah

2009-05-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

We stopped for the night in Mexican Hat, Utah. So named for a distinctive rock formation just outside of town. There was one gas station, two motels, a small RV park and one place to buy 3.2 percent beer (this is Utah!) The only other inhabitant of the RV parks suggested that we try dining out at the Swinging Steak. This establishment was right next door - everything in Mexican Hat is along a quarter mile stretch of US 163. The place was outside in the open air and features a blazing woodfire with a sort of bed frame swinging above it which was utilized as a grill by one of the two employees that cooked and served the food. The menu was only two kinds of steaks, chicken or hamburger and was served with salad and pinto beans - no substitutions, take it or leave it. The steak was cooked to perfection swinging over the fire and as the waitress explained, the dessert menu was beer. The place also presented a western swing band that consisted of what looked like several colorful locals. They actually were quite good - better than the photo that I tried to take of them. The restaurant soon filled up with the usual Japanese, German, French and even two women from Australia that had heard about The Steak in their own country. I wonder why only foreigners go to the really cools places in America!

The Moki Dugway!

2009-05-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Highway 261 meanders pleasantly across the top of the immense Cedar Plateau and then DROPS OFF THE EDGE! The road turns to a narrow gravel passage which drops about 2,000 feet in two miles. This has got to be one of the freakiest roads in America. It's too narrow for two vehicles to pass so one has to backup or go forward to one of the few wide spots when encountering on coming traffic. The middle pic is looking back at the Dugway from the bottom. Where does the road go?

Desert Camping

2009-05-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

We heading south past Canyon Lands NP to a pretty little remote campground called Wind Whistle. Nearby was some breathtaking overlooks of the Colorado River.

Moab Utah

2009-05-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

We headed south through that unique Utahan landscape of other worldly arches and towers to Moab, one of the outdoor meccas. We camped right on the Colorado River just a few miles outside of town. Bill took the Poison Spider Bicycle shuttle up to do the famous Mountain bike trail, Porcupine Rim. This is an eighteen mile single track ride that drops from about 8,000 feet to 4,000 feet and ends right at our campground. This is a very technical, challenging ride which hugs the edge of a thousand foot cliff for much of the distance. Bill survived although he admits to walking some of the more difficult sections. Oh, I could not resist including a pic of the campgrounds "rest room" with its unique view.

Dinosaur National Monument

2009-05-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

After Leaving Boulder, we spent two days in Dinosaur National Monument. This remote park has beautiful scenery and is famous for the large numbers of dinosaur bones found there. Unfortunately, the museum is closed due to structural problems, but we did some nice hikes which went to rock formations with visible fossils. On was a large backbone of a dinosaur. Although the park is large, there are few developed trails and most of the action here is the rafting on the Green River.

Back In Boulder

2009-04-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Boulder visiting Bill's father and son as well as other family. Bill did a 13 mile mountain bike ride in the cold and rain with his old friend Steve. It was wet and muddy, but a lot of fun. Tomorrow we are off for Dinosaur National Monument and then other points south and west.

Back to Civilization

2009-04-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

We left Chaco in another snowstorm and took the rutted dirt road north to Colorado. After a day in Cortez and a tour of the Anasazi Museum in Delores, we drove to Fruita Colorado via Moab Utah. Since Boulder was being dumped on with about two feet of snow, we decided to spend an extra few days on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. Bill spent a full day riding the famous Fruita mountain bike trails. Finally last Sunday, we headed to Boulder, where Bill's father, several brothers and our son live. We went from snow in New Mexico to heat in Utah to snow as we crossed Vail Pass in Colorado back to warm sunny days in Boulder.

Ancient Messages

2009-04-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

After awakening to a light snow fall and twenty degree temperatures, we took the eight-mile round trip hike out to Peublo Blanco and saw the incredibly well preserved petroglyphs along the way. Near the end of the hike is the famous "Super Nova" pictograph, which, along with the crescent moon, is the ancients' record of the great super nova star burst that occurred in 1054 AD.

More Chaco Culture

2009-04-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

After exploring several of the ancient pueblo ruins, we climbed up through a rock chimney that was a hidden passageway used by the early native Americans to access the mesa top from the valley below. From the top we had an excellent view of the large ruins set among the gorgeous natural scenery.

The road to Chaco...

2009-04-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

From Clovis we blew through Albuquerque and entered the remote Chaco Culture National Historical Park. This hidden canyon was the center of pre-Pueblo civilization around 800 to 1100 AD.

New Mexico

2009-04-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

We hit Oasis State Park just inside the New Mexico line last night. This is truly an "oasis" with a beautiful spring fed lake in the middle of the desert. Of course, we were almost alone in the small campground. Today we got to Albuquergue where we visited Pictograph National Monument. Tomorrow we are off to the remote area of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. We loaded up on water and food and will be off-grid for several days.

Copper Breaks and Caprock

2009-04-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

These are two beautiful little parks in the panhandle of Texas. We did some serious hiking and Bill hit the mountain bike trails and learned the hard way about flat tires from cactus thorns. After using up all of his spare tire patches and his spare inner tube, he gave up until we can find a bike shop and by some thorn proof liners. He did manage to ride almost all of the trails in both parks.
We hiked on a trail in Caprock to a natural bridge. You can see the one picture of Bill standing in front of the tunnel through carved solid rock by water. We did not go into the tunnel because of the abundance of rattlesnakes in the area.

Into Texas!

2009-04-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

We continued westward and landed in the LBJ National Grasslands, somewhere northwest of Dallas. It cost $ 2.00 per night to camp on this beautiful wilderness lake - once again, we were the only ones there. This turned out to also be a "lovers lane" for turkey buzzards...

Mississippi

2009-04-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

We landed in Roosevelt State Park and enjoyed the cypress swamp and near empty campground.

Underground in the Deep South

2009-04-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

We continued to Rickwood Caverns State Park in Alabama and toured the caves.

2009's Adventure Begins!

2009-04-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

We are off again to the West! We left Raleigh and went all the way to Murphy in extreme western North Carolina. We then dipped down into Georgia where we stayed at Cloud Canyon State Park and toured the Chicamauga battlefield. It was almost like being in the west, on a smaller scale. There was a small canyon with some spectacular water falls. This is the only place east of the Mississippi that I have ever heard called a canyon!

The long ferry ride home

2008-10-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

In order to continue further south from Ocracoke it is necessary to take a long ferry boat ride across the Pamlico Sound to Cedar Island where one may rejoin the mainland highway system. The ride was very pleasant. Also on board the boat was a group of older motorcycle riders from Georgia out on a grand excursion.

On to Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke

2008-10-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

From Oregon Inlet we stopped at Cape Hatteras and saw the famous lighthouse and then took the 45 minute "free" ferry boat to Ocracoke Island. The National Seashore campground was also mostly empty. The beach and weather were great, but we were besieged with the the most aggressive mosquitoes whenever the wind would die down. Later we found out that we had contracted the bites of dozens of sand fleas as well. You always want an offshore breeze on the Outer Banks.

Oregon Inlet North Carolina

2008-10-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

From Merchant's Millpond, we made a stop at the Great Dismal Swamp State Park, where Bill rode some of the mountain bike trails in the park. We then headed out to Nags Head and down Bodie Island to the Nation Seashore campground at Oregon Inlet. The campground was scheduled to close for the season the next weekend. We were surprised to see so few campers since this is the prime season for fishing along the outer banks. The weather and the beach were beautiful and the food was not bad either.

Fall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina

2008-10-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

We decided to escape for a week to eastern North Carolina. The first night was spent at Merchant's Millpond State Park. This is a beautiful cyprus swamp with a small campground. The Park rents canoes or you can bring your own. There are also remote campsites accessible either by canoe or backpacking. The most notable trail is the Lassiter Trail. This is an easy seven mile hike on a good trail through hardwoods with some views of the cyprus swamp. Your will see a lot of deer here. This park is best from October to May since it is completely infested with ticks and other crawlies in the warm seasons.

Back Home Again In Carolina

2008-06-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

We made it back. Here's a map of our whole trip.

Back To Arches

2008-05-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

Bill has been to Arches NP four times. Debbie had been once before. The first time he went was while in college when the park was still designated a national monument. He went there after reading Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire - the book that started the environmental movement for the desert. He remembers that all of the roads were dirt and there were no other campers in the camp ground. He climbed on top of several of the arches. How times have changed. Now the park is still unworldly beautiful but is jammed with tour buses and rv's full of ( at least this year) Germans with Japanese running a close second. The campground fills by 8 am most mornings through the year. We noticed that the "campground full" sign appeared to be nailed into place. You are lucky to find a parking place at any of the pullouts or trail heads - and this is in May before school is out. Oh, by the way, all climbing on arches is now illegal and you even have to buy a special hiking permit to hike into the Fiery Furnace area. It's still a unique place to go to and I have included a few pics that I took today.

Morning at Mesa Arch

2008-05-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

We got up early to beat the hordes of tourists and hiked out to Mesa Arch. This arch, while not large, frames a fantastic view of the Colorado River valley below. One can see Washer Woman Arch in the distance. It is almost as if we are viewing another world through a time- space continuum gate - unbelievable.

Island in the Sky

2008-05-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Bill had visited Canyonlands in the past and hiked extensively in the Needles District so we decided to see something new. Island in the Sky is a mesa cut off from the rest of the geography by a forty foot wide land bridge. We managed to get the last of only twelve campsites in the park and had a gorgeous view of the slick rock desert. It was rumored that big horned sheep lived in the area and we were lucky enough to see one from our campsite in the evening. We hiked most of the short trails in the area including one that circled a mesa and let you get up to some ancient native American granaries. We also saw our third snake of the trip, a cute little bull snake. Bill just had to point it out to a bunch of Russian tourist who went crazy trying to get photos of it and asking Bill about whether it was poisonous or not.
Bill hiked the Gooseberry trail. The trail went down 1,400 feet and then along along the canyon floor and of course, back up. In the heat of day with the temps around 85, Bill drank two litres of water and said "...it was a butt kicker hike".

Down into the Great Basin

2008-05-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

We left the hot springs for the nearest town of Winemucca Nevada where we checked into an RV campground to do laundry and resupply. We were handed the chamber of commerce brochure and were intrigued to find a full page ad for the Winemucca brothel right next to the church listings...
Anyway we dropped in on the Great Basin NP where the ranger informed us that it was the fourth least visited National Park. I had to correct him since he did not have Gates of the Arctic on his list (which gets less that 1000 visitors per year). OK so it's the fifth least visited. There was not problem finding a campsite. Like most places we have gone on this trip, the area had a late winter and most of the trails and some campgrounds were still snowed in. This park has three attractions; 1) a lot of back country for remote backpacking,2) the second highest peak in Nevada (Mt. Wheeler -13063 ft.) and 3) the Lehman Caves (actually only one cave.
This last is not to miss - a beautiful well preserved cave with gorgeous features.

Even More At Hot Springs

2008-05-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

More Hot Springs

2008-05-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

Now this is remote!

2008-05-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

We left the Steens Mountains and took a 40 mile dirt road to the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. We saw some really nice looking antelopes and were the only residents in the Hot Springs campground. There was a spring with a simple wall around it to keep out the animals and one that was completely natural. It was incredibly splendid to take a hot soak surrounded by pristine nature, including snow fields. The place was full of birds and even a bull snake. Bill tossed his fishing line into the tiny creek that you see in the pictures and was getting bites from six inch baby rainbow trout - he didn't keep any. We then stopped at Sheldon Wildlife Refuge in Neveda where we camped at an empty spot in the desert. The next day we drove to Winnemucca where we checked into the High Desert RV Park to do a lot of laundry, get food and diesel and get the Internet.

Birders' Paradise

2008-05-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Continuing to push south into one of the biggest blank areas on the US map we spent three days at the Page Springs campground just outside Malheur Wildlife Reserve. This area has almost 400 species of birds and is a mecca for birders from all over the world. We saw several new ones for us including the huge sandhill crane. The campground was almost empty. Bill rode his mountain bike up the Steens Mountain Loop road ( which was closed to auto traffic due to the snow pack). He got 14 miles and 3,000 feet altitude gain into the Steens before being stopped by the snow. Bill and Debbie hiked a trail up to the top of the mesa where I took several of these pictures. It is impossible to exaggerate the beauty and wealth of wildlife here.

Down into the High Desert!

2008-05-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ever searching for warmer climes we descended into the southeast corner of Oregon. This area, along with the northwestern part of Nevada must be one of the most remote parts of the US. Traveling here is serious business. You must top off your fuel, water and food tanks every chance that you get - and you do not get many! We were delighted by the rich fossil museum at the John Day Fossil Beds hiked five and a half miles miles into one of the famous mammal fossil areas. We did not realize that this is one of the richest mammalian fossil areas in the world.

Car Crash!

2008-05-14T17:44:00.001-07:00

No Debbie wasn't driving, but we came upon this wreck just about two minutes after it occurred. Fortunately the driver was not hurt. This was near a pretty little State Park called Wanapum SP Washington where we camped while we visited the Ginko Petrified Forest SP. We hiked the trails and saw petrified trees and Indian petroglyphs. This was right on the Columbia River right before we ducked back down into Oregon.

More San Juans

2008-05-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

On to the San Juans!

2008-05-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

We passed by Crescent Lake in Olympic NP. This crystal clear lake is over 600 feet deep! We then took the ferry to Whidbey Island in the Strait of San Juan. These islands are a beautiful mix of sea coast and mountains. We spent a little while in a lovely public garden.

Over the River To Washington

2008-05-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

After visiting Ft. Stevens SP Oregon, where we saw a shipwreck and explored a Civil War fort ( which also happened to be the only place on the west coast to be shelled by the Japanese during WWII) we headed up the coast of Washington. We spent several nights in the Hoh rainforest section of Olympic National Park and was amazed at the rich variety of trees and vegetation.

Following Lewis and Clark

2008-04-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

We got to the Columbia River on Sunday and stayed at Memaloose SP right on the river. I included a photo looking out from out campsite over the river. On the way we stopped in the town of The Dalles, which is the western terminus of the Oregon Trail and also an area passed by Lewis and Clark on their famous exploration. (both of us read Stephen Ambrose's book about Lewis and Clark's trip). We spent several hours at a museum on the site of an old fort.
The next night we stayed at Ainsworth SP and hiked up to the top of Multnomah Falls which is about 600 feet high.
Today we checked into an RV park in Portland Oregon to 1)do laundry 2)get the oil changed on the truck 3)hook up to the Internet.
We took a short drive into Portland and conclude that it is on a big river, but otherwise looks like most big American cities - lots of traffic and congestion.

North Again

2008-04-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

We left Bend and headed north towards the Columbia River. We stopped at Smith Rocks SP on the way out since this is a world class rock climbing area. I have included some photos of the rocks and a face with a number of climbers on it.
We had just been listening to NPR in Bend about a recent visit that they made to the Town of Antelope Oregon, where an Indian guru, Bhagwan, bought a ranch in the 1980's. Hundreds of his followers moved in and eventually took over the whole town. This was the cult that bought the Bhagwan dozens of Rolls Royce cars for him to drive once a day down a muddy lane while his acolytes praised him. Anyway, he was deported because of income tax fraud and his followers left town. We just HAD to make the small detour to Antelope. There's no sign of any cult now, just a very isolated ranch town that has seen better days. It is in an unbelievably beautiful setting.
A little further on, we camped at Palisades Cove SP which is a deep canyon cut into the flat plain and filled with a reservoir. We hiked to the top of a magnificent butte where I took a few of these photos.

We Gotta Get Outta Here!

2008-04-29T16:41:00.000-07:00

The constant rain, cold and wind finally wore us down and so we excaped over the Cascade Mountains to the dryer east side. I have included a photo of us going over Santiam Pass. If you think that this is a lot of snow, you should have seen the western side of the pass - the snow must have been ten feet deep! We camped at Tumalo SP just outside of Bend Oregon where I got some pics of the sun going down over Mt. Jefferson.

Roughing it in the rain!

2008-04-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos of the Roosevelt Elk that we saw in Redwoods NP. We moved on up the coast and spent a night at Honeyman SP and visited (between rain showers) a beautiful garden that once belonged to a timber baron whose mansion burned down, but the garden is still maintained.
We continued to have bad weather on the coast. Wind, rain and cold. I have included photos of us eating our rough "camp" dinners so you all can appreciate the hard times that we have had to endure. Finally sick of the wet weather we decided to strike inland and now find ourselves in Bend Oregon. Bend is a hip little town with a brew pub on every corner and everyone does outdoors sports year-round. We shopped at REI for raingear and I left my mountain bike with their mechanic for some major repair.

More Redwoods!

2008-04-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

We spent a awhile in Redwoods National and State Park hiking and biking. We are now in Oregon near Coos Bay and the weather has been cold and rainy for the past several days. In spite of the weather the coast is still beautiful. We may head inland if the weather does not improve soon. Here are some new pics.

Lost in the Redwoods

2008-04-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

We are now in Eureka California. We spent a delightful several days at Van Damme State Park where Bill rode several mountain bike trails and Bill and Debbie hiked up to a waterfall in Russian Gulch SP. The highlight was paddling the sea kayak up the Big River where we saw harbor seals sunning themselves on a log. It was weird to see marine mammals so far up a wilderness river. We loved Mendocino which had an amazing general store that sold everything from organic produce, local wines to auto parts. They even had a whole aisle devoted to art supplies - normal for this hip community of about a thousand people.
Tomorrow we are off to Redwoods National Park.

Finally Something to Drink.

2008-04-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

I forgot to tell that we spent most of the day yesterday driving through Sonoma Valley, which has hundreds of wine vineyards. We stopped at two. First was the David Coffaro vineyard where we tasted about ten different wines. Next we went to the Unti vineyard which we had read about in the Lonely Planet Guide. The guide said that Unti had a "big slutty Shiraz". Needless to say we had to sample THAT! Oh yeh we bought several bottles. Both of these wineries were small family run establishments and it was quite an intimate experience to taste there wares in what was essentially there warehouse. Here's a pic of Unti's vines.

Up to Van Damme SP

2008-04-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are in the most beautiful California State Park. The camp ground is empty except for about three groups of campers. It is a five minute walk to the beach on one end and there is a fabulous canyon to hike at the other end.
Bill and Debbie hiked up Fern Canyon today and later Bill rode his bike up the canyon to the pygmy forest on the top of the mountain. He did a screaming descent back to the campground. Oh, did we say that we can get fast internet wireless right at our campsite? There is no cell phone service or tv or even fm radio - go figure! Here's some pics...

Back to the Coast

2008-04-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

After Yosemite, we headed back to the coast where we stayed at Salt Point SP. We had heard that you could sometimes see grey whales migrating north for the summer. WE SAW A LOT! Each evening a pod of whales would swim by. We could see them spouting from the window of our camper. Here's the pics.

2008-04-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yosemite - finally!

2008-04-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

It has long been a dream of Bill's to visit Yosemite NP. Yosemite was the first National Park. It was actually established by Abraham Lincoln. John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, called it the most beautiful place on earth. It also happens to be the birthplace of modern rock climbing - an avocation that Bill pursued in one of his past lives. We did a lot of hiking up to waterfalls. Did you know that Yosemite has two of the ten highest waterfalls in the world? We climbed up to Vernal Falls and Bill went to the top of Yosemite Falls which is 2,700 feet high. Debbie hiked to Mirror Lake. Although there was snow at the higher altitudes, the weather was sunny and nice. Here are some pics.

Big Time In Big Sur.

2008-04-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

We are back in warmer weather on the coast in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Back to big trees and clear flowing streams. We have been doing a lot of hiking and Bill riding his bike. After a visit in Berkley with Debbie's nephew, we are off to Yosemite Valley NP and the cold again.

From winter to summer in the same day!

2008-04-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

We spent a delightful time in Sequoia NP looking at the world's biggest trees and awoke to find that four inches of snow had fallen and it was continuing to snow heavily. We had a rather treacherous drive down from the Sierra Mountains to Morro Bay on the pacific coast. These pictures were all taken on the same day.
We are heading now to Big Sur south of San Francisco where we will camp and hike for a few days before heading inland again to Yosemite NP.

Excape From Death Valley!

2008-03-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

We spent three days in Death Valley NP hiking in the canyons. Bill rode his mountain bike on the "20 Mule Team " Trail. The temperature hit ninty-three degrees in the daytime and was in the seventies at night. We visited the lowest point in the western hemisphere at 283 feet below sea level.
We are writing this from Bakersfield, CA.
Here are some pics.

Desert Wild Flowers

2008-03-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

The park rangers at Joshua Tree told us that the wild flowers were unusually plentiful this year. Most years they hardly bloom at all. It is an incredible beautiful scene to see the stark rocks and sand of the desert accented with brilliant beautiful bloom of the cacti, agavi and other plants that live such a harsh existence.

We're in California!

2008-03-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

We just spent five days in Joshua Tree National Park. This remote desert park has no water (and certainly no phone or internet). We had a great time hiking the trails and looking at the desert wild flowers which were in a rare full bloom.

I am writing this parked in the back of a convenience store (borrowing their wi-fi) in the rather bleak town of Twenty-nine Palms, CA. We are going to reprovision food, water and diesel and head up to the Mojave Preserve which is even more remote and wild than Joshua Tree. After that we plan to continue to Death Valley and then to Sequoia NP. After that we will go straight to the Pacific coast and perhaps stay in more civilized locations. I'll try to update when I can. Here's some pics.

ON OUR WAY 2008!

2008-03-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

We left Raleigh Wednesday, March 12th and drove across North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and we are now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We are travelling fast to get out to southern California where our "real" trip will begin. We have been through the southwest before and would love to spend more time here, but that will have to wait for another trip west. Bill is writing this from inside the truck camper at an "RV" park. We have internet access and cable tv and right now Debbie is doing yoga to a DVD - so we are really roughing it. Here's a photo of Thursday night's camp at Chickasaw State Park Tennessee. And the top photo is the sunset at Foss State Park in Oklahoma. Tomorrow, we plan to camp near the Homolovi Indian ruins in Arizona and then make it to Lake Havasu the next night. We plan to start our "real" trip in Joshua Tree National Park. We expect to spend at least three or four days hiking and camping.

We will try to update this blog whenever we have access to the internet. Sometimes we find wifi at an interstate rest stop, but the most reliable is to pull into the parking lot of a motel. Anyway, Bill misses everyone at TKD and we look forward to hearing from our friends and family. If you do not have our phone numbers or email address, just post a message to this blog.

2007 Trip West Detailed View

2008-03-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

This is a more detailed look at our route throught the southwestern U.S. last year. The yellow labels represent everyplace that we camped overnight.

Our 2007 Trip Out West

2008-03-04T05:48:00.001-08:00

This is an experiment to see how posting MS Streets and Trips maps look. This is the route we did last year.

Daughter Kate in Japan

2008-03-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

Here's our daughter Kate with her friend Hiromi enjoying "Girl's Day" in Japan where she is stationed as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Kate has her own apartment and is learning to speak Japanese. On New Year's Day she and her friend Dan climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji. Kate is a Naval Academy graduate and recently completed her masters in mechanical engineering at MIT.

RC Helicopters

2008-02-26T14:22:00.001-08:00

Bill has taken up the hobby of flying remote control helicopters. About ten years ago he flew RC airplanes with a local club. The attraction of the helis is that he can fly them just about anywhere. The smaller three fly indoors and the two big ones fly in the back yard or at a local park. At first the hobby can be frustrating since it is easy to crash and you spend a lot of time and $$$ repairing your mistakes. Eventually you get the hang of it and Bill enjoys flying circles, figure eights and just plain hovering around.

Bill successfully passed his final test for 2nd degree Blackbelt

2008-02-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

Bill survived a three and a half hour final test for his 2nd degree Blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do. This was the last of six tests required. He had to perform 12 forms or katas, a creative nunchuk routine (set to Jimi Hendrix "Voodoo Child") and a knife self-defense skit demonstrating twelve different defenses to a knife attack. He had to full-contact spar against two opponents. He ended the test by breaking double boards held only on one edge with knife hand, punch, side kick and turning hook kick. His jump break was to break a board with a round house kick and another with a turning side kick all in the same jump. Finally his power breaks were three cinder blocks free-standing with a hop step side kick, a cinder block with a drop kick and one with a turning side kick. Now he is looking forward to learning fighting techniques with the Bo staff.

This is our first blog.

2008-02-16T06:31:00.000-08:00

This is just to test out our attempt to start a blog so that friends can track our travels and veiw our photos. Here's recent photo taken at lower Linville Falls in western North Carolina.