Back Home in the Lowcountry

We left Cape Ann the day after Labor Day, stopping to visit with Beverly, my Dad's wife, on the way south. We also had an opportunity to stop in Mystic, CT to visit with Kate and Tim and to see their boat, something we had been wanting to do on other north to south trips. They had friends staying on the boat with them, and we all went to dinner. Coincidentally, the other couple had lived for some time in Hill City, SD, the home of the metal horse sculpture we had admired. (See our blog on Mt. Rushmore for a photo.)

Dover, DE, was our next stop. We spent the night with my brother Ed and his wife Kathy, than headed home via the Bay Bridge and Tunnel. That route takes somewhat longer, but sure beats Washington, DC.

We arrived home on Sept. 11th, not without some mixed feelings on my part. This was a trip that Dale and I had talked about and planned for years. Now, it was in our rear view mirror. It had moved from the "someday" column of life to the "remember when". However, life took over, and the following week was hectic. The Sun City Regatta for EC 12 model sailboats was the next weekend, and we needed to get the house in shape for the kick-off social the night before. Dale needed to prepare for his first-time role as Race Director. This was the largest sign-up of sailors the club had ever sponsored, and we wanted to get it right. It turned out to be a great weekend on all accounts.

With the regatta over, it is now time to reflect back on our trip. We have had many questions since our return- "how many miles?" "how many parks?" - as well as questions on hotels, gas, etc. So, for all of you "stats" aficionados, here it is.

We drove a total of 18,552 miles, plus 2000 nautical miles on the trip to Alaska. We averaged $2.55 per gallon of gas with the lowest in Dillon, SC at $2.30 and the highest in Willow Creek, CA, a whopping $3.30. In planning the trip, we had hoped to average $80 per night for lodging. We actually did better than that at $64 per night. That includes, of course, nights with friends and relatives. It also includes 8 free nights using points earned for stays at hotels (Choice Privileges program) and 4 nights in Sedona using our Wyndham timeshare points. We visited 18 US National Parks plus one in Canada. In addition, we visited several cities and numerous non-park sites.

The most frequent question is also the most difficult to answer- "What was your favorite park?" We saw so many wonderful places, each with its own character, its own special beauty. We would definitely list Yosemite and Yellowstone near the top, but we also loved Theodore Roosevelt. Grand Tetons was spectacular and Mesa Verde fascinating. Can we say we loved them all?

Some thoughts- we met a number of rangers and Visitor Center people who deserve kudos for the job they do. We also met those who were very vocal in their love of the parks and of special places in general- the ranger at the locks in Seattle who told the story of the important role the salmon plays in the Northwest, and its connection with the animals, the forest and the people; the ranger who gave us the tour at Mesa Verde, pointing out the role of the individual in saving many of the special places in this country. He encouraged us all to identify those places special to us, -those that we want to be there, unchanged, for our children and grandchildren,- and to work to make sure they stay that way.

Speaking of individuals, we learned of many individuals in the past who worked to make sure these parks were here for us- John Muir, Audubon, and, of course, Teddy Roosevelt. Both Dale and I certainly gained additional respect for TR for his role in protecting the parks. Roosevelt's feelings on this subject were evident, never more so than in this quote seen on a plaque at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon:

"Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American ...should see."

A great way to end a spectacular trip.

The Road Home- Colorado to Cape Ann

We left Grand Junction on August 31st, heading for home via the most direct routes, Rt 80 and Rt 90. Our drive was goal-oriented this time, as we wanted to spend Labor Day weekend on Cape Ann. We drove east through the Rockies, stopping for lunch in a cute former mining town near Leadville called Fresno. The old section of the town has wooden sidewalks and a nice museum on the history of the area. After leaving the Rockies behind, we found the eastern section of Colorado to be surprisingly flat.

We enjoyed the drive through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana through rolling farmland planted primarily with corn, wheat, and probably soy bean. After spending the night in Moline, Illinois we again crossed the Mississippi. The river is quite wide here, which surprised us this far north. The road took us through Ohio, into Pennsylvania and New York, than finally into Massachusetts.

Cape Ann is Massachusetts' "other cape", a peninsula that extends out into the Atlantic to form the northern boundary of Massachusetts Bay, with Cape Cod forming the southern boundary. Its shores are rocky, interspersed with beautiful white sand beaches. The interior of the peninsula (often referred to as an island by the locals, as the man-made Blynman Canal separates it from the "mainland") is uninhabited city-owned land. This area, known as Dogtown, has a very interesting history. The name supposedly comes from the days when Gloucester was a whaling town. The men would leave for months on end. The women and children, accompanied by multiple dogs for protection, left the shore and moved inland in fear of pirates.

Arriving at Cheryl's, our girl Ally turned inside out when she saw us, which made us feel good- we were wondering if she had decided to stay in New England forever! She had so much fun swimming and running in the woods- things that are limited, to say the least, in S.Carolina. She even lost weight.

The weather the next four days was spectacular- clear blue skies, low 80's- perfect for walks, sitting on the rocks by Ipswich Bay, and eating outside in the evening. Sunday was a perfect day for the Schooner Races, held every Labor Day weekend. We had an opportunity to see a few of the schooners up close, including the Blue Nose out of Nova Scotia.

Unfortunately, we were unable to see either Kyle or Mark (Dale's grandson and son), but did get to visit with Cheryl, Sheryl and Kara (daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter) and Gregg (Cheryl's SO)- and all the dogs! All of them- Smitty, Cooper, Jessie, Kona and Hula, and of course Ally- enjoyed the walks and the swims.

All good things come to an end. Tuesday September 8th, we headed South for the Lowcountry and home.

Grand Junction, CO

The drive from Mesa Verde to Grand Junction, where my sister Linda and her family live, was beautiful. We took a scenic drive through the mountains of southwest Colorado- jagged, beautiful colors of stone.

Grand Junction was named for the joining of two great rivers, the Colorado and the Gunnison, which flows up from the south. It has created a fertile valley bordered on the west by the Colorado National Monument (a must-see if you are ever in the area), and on the east by the Grand Mesa, which is the largest flat topped mountain in the world. The valley grows many things including peaches (which were in season), vegetables, and grapes- lots of grapes, accounting for the 20+ wineries in the area.

We took advantage of the wineries and toured several. It was nice to find out that they use primarily Colorado grown grapes, unlike several wineries we toured in Arizona. We found several we liked and purchased a few bottles. We also toured downtown Grand Junction, which is very active, lots of shops, and some really nice sculptures on many corners. Its great, especially in the current economy, to see such an active, vital downtown area.

We visited here several years ago and toured both the Mesa and the Monument, so did not do that this time. Sorry we have no pictures of these two locations from this trip, but have included one shot from the Mesa from our previous trip. Both locations are beautiful, but the Monument is the more spectacular of the two. Overall, we had a nice, relaxing visit with Linda, Larry (her husband) and Jon (my nephew) and have promised to return in the near future. Now if we can only get them to visit South Carolina!!

We left Mon. morning for our return trip to New England to pick up our girl Ally. No more touring, just driving. However, we plan to share any highlights we see on our way.

Mesa Verde National Park

After leaving Petrified Wood National Forest, we drove about 5 hours through Indian reservations to Cortez, CO. The terrain was primarily high desert, the view was of cattle munching on scarce, dry appearing grass, and stark rock outcroppings. This was the first time we have traveled in the dark since the beginning of our trip.

On reaching Cortez, we stopped to eat at a local brewery-style restaurant prior to checking in. It was owned by an older German gentleman who also owned a small ranch. The restaurant was eccentrically decorated with murals and scattered quotes. The thought for the day- "Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction."

Cortez is located about 5 miles outside the only entrance to Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde is one of the only parks preserved for cultural reasons rather than natural beauty. The mesa rises 2000 feet above the valley, cut by several canyons. The canyons house thousands of cliff dwellings tucked under overhanging rock. Scientists have dated these well-preserved dwellings from A.D. 550 to 1300.

In order to tour the major sites, visitors must sign up for a ranger tour. No one is allowed into the sites alone, primarily for preservation reasons. We decided to tour the site known as the Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in the United States. After climbing down a series of stone steps, we arrived at a large group of stone structures that were remarkably intact. Although some stabilization repairs have been done by the park service, most are as they were re-discovered 130 years ago. We were not allowed to touch most of the ruins, but took lots of photographs. Later, we walked down to a ruin known as Spruce House, where visitors are allowed to wander through the buildings and climb a ladder down into a Kiva. A Kiva is a circular ceremonial building that may also have served as a winter dwelling, as it was mostly underground. The whole concept was truly amazing to us, that this civilization of thousands of "ancestral Puebloans" could have left such durable evidence of their existence. A park definitely worth visiting!

As mentioned previously, this visit was our last to the national parks for this trip. We were off to Grand Junction to visit and relax before our trip back to New England.

Petrified Forest National Park/ Painted Desert

OK, I know we said that Mesa Verde was our last national park for this trip. However, when we realized that I-40, the route we were taking to Mesa Verde, went right through Petrified Forest, we had to stop and visit.

First, however, our drive took us through Winslow, Arizona. Sound familiar to any of you Boomers out there? "Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona" was made famous by the Eagles back in the 70's. We stopped there for coffee and a t-shirt, than took a few shots of the statue placed there to commemorate the song. The town is on the historic Rt 66, but appears to have been left behind when I-40 was built.

Back to Petrified Forest- petrified wood was formed when trees were buried, many years ago, by silt, volcanic ash, and mud. The lack of oxygen kept the trees from decaying, and the silica in the water seeped into the tree tissue, which eventually crystallized into quartz. Different minerals added colors- yellow, red, blue, brown, pink- which can be very beautiful. I had been here many years ago and confess I was not terribly impressed. However, learning more about the process and really LOOKING at the wood was a new experience. Dale was very surprised at the quantity of wood lying around. The ranger indicated that only a very small number of the trees that died in the then-tropical forest actually went through the petrification process, but it was still impressive. Dale was so impressed that we drove back west by several miles to purchase a piece of wood for our yard, so Sun City folks can check it out when we return. (Many pieces are stolen from the park every year. The fines for doing so are pretty high, rightfully so. It is not very expensive to legally purchase even a large piece, so it is difficult to understand the thieves...) In addition to petrified wood, many fossils have been found in the area.

The other part of the park was the Painted Desert. This area consists of mounds of sandstone, layered with different colors of soil, depending on the minerals in the soil. As a whole, the mounds are quite beautiful with the layers of purple, red, grays, and blues.

Four hours later, we headed on our way to Colorado and Mesa Verde.

Flagstaff/Sedona

We arrived in Flagstaff, planning on touring the town. After our stop at the Visitor Center, we decided to tour the local Arboretum so we could learn more about the local plants. They also had a raptor show, which was really good. They had several hawks, a Cara Cara, and an owl. They also had a very talented crow who helped with "fund-raising" to support his fellow bird friends. He would accept bills in any denomination and deposit them in a jar. Apparently, he also takes credit cards, but prefers to destroy them rather than give them back!

We headed for Sedona after the show, where we were booked at our timeshare for 4 days. Sedona itself is just beautiful- red cliffs every place you look. I fell in love with the pueblo-style homes in colors that blended perfectly with the cliffs. We learned later that the town only allows those colors on any new buildings in the area. The downtown area has lots of galleries, restaurants and shops. We did several driving tours- scenic loops through the red rocks, a drive to Jerome, an old mining town. Again, galleries and shops on steep streets with a view of the valley below. We were disappointed that the state park, which displayed information on the mining aspect, was closed due to budget cuts.

We felt it was time to try out our golf clubs again, so headed to a course recommended to us at the timeshare. What a beautiful spot! Again, the cliffs surrounded the course, so spectacular views were everywhere. (We've included a few shots of the course- drool on, golfing fans!)

The last day in Sedona we decided to take a Pink Jeep tour to an ancient Indian site. Our guide Jason (an Eagle Scout) was very knowledgeable. I'm not sure what we expected, but he took us on rugged dirt roads out to a site of old dwellings built under the overhangs of the cliffs more than 700 years ago. Remnants of walls were still intact. Old petroglyphs and rock carvings were visible on the cliff walls. It is an active archaeological site- the tour company actually participates in the preservation of the area. Fascinating!

We spent the afternoon back in Flagstaff walking around the town and touring the Riordan Mansion. The mansion is an arts and crafts style home built around the turn of the century by two brothers who married two sisters. The house is actually two 6000 square foot homes joined in the center by a central room used for family gatherings. All the original furniture is present. The house had some very innovative ideas for its time- all electric lighting (including one room that had indirect lighting), and an interesting cooling system that made use of natural air flow. Well worth touring!

We leave tomorrow for Cortez, CO, where we will visit our final National Park of the trip- Mesa Verde. From there, it is on to Grand Junction to visit my sister for a few days before heading back to New England. We have begun to plan a route, and I have to admit, it is a strange feeling to have the end of the trip in view. However- not over yet! More after visiting Mesa Verde.