Albuquerque and Organ Pipe

Just a couple of wrap up pictures from Albuquerque and then some cactus pictures from Organ Pipe National Monument.

On Saturday afternoon we took a short hike near Albuquerque. Sharleen and her sister Ruby are having a great time.




So are Ruby and Jerry. We parted ways on Sunday morning and we headed to Ajo, Arizona and Organ Pipe National Monument.







At the park we took a 21 mile drive that took about 2 hours and was dirt (mostly rocks) road that was one lane. We saw some amazing cactus with lots of Organ Pipe cactus as seen here on the right.

Another look at a Organ Pipe Cactus. This is the only place in the US that you can find them however Mexico has lots.





The Choya cactus seen here is pretty but don't get too close. They will attack and have been known to jump several feet to impale a hiker.
(just seems that way)





We took a mile hike in the mountains...... this is what the trail looked like.







We were treated to this view of a double arch at the end of the hike.


A great day looking at cactus!

Off to San Diego tomorrow morning.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2015

We've been at the Balloon Fiesta for the last two days and this morning was the grand finale of our visit.

We arrived at the Fiesta park about 6:00am and we were immediately greeted with a dozen balloons starting to inflate. As you can see it's still dark and the balloons were magnificent.

After the sun came up we were treated to a sky filled with balloons of every shape. Click on the arrow to see the video.

A bug!

Darth Vader and Yoda!

The Wells Fargo stage coach!

?????? balloons I think!

The morning sky was filled as the sun rose.








There was Dumbo!








And every dog's friend!









A turtle!










And a chicken!






And this one is for Carrie.......

Moooooooo!



what a great morning at the Balloon Fiesta. Back on the road tomorrow.

Mesa Verde National Park

We spent the day in Mesa Verde National Park near Cortez, Colorado. The Pueblo Indians built homes in the cliffs here about 1000 years ago and the ruins have been preserved for us to see.

From the museum we looked down at the Spruce Tree House seen here.
We then hiked about a half mile down to the structure.







The Structure built back into the natural overhang in the sandstone was home to between 60 and 90 Pueblo Indians some 900 years ago.

They lived here for 75 to 100 years before moving on. Since the life expectancy was about 35 years this was home to about three generations of Pueblo.



They had to carry all the materials into the cliff since they had no mules or other beasts of burden to help them. What an amazing feat!

We also looked down at the biggest of the dwellings called the Cliff Palace. While we didn't get to go down to it we were still in awe of the structure.

Still another view of the ruins of Cliff place. We did some hiking in the park and called it a day. Tomorrow is a rest day with a little local touring before heading to Santa Fe on Wednesday.

 

Canyon Lands National Park

We visited Canyon Lands National Park yesterday. it's about 25 miles from Moab and located where the Green River and the Colorado River meet. I'm just going to post a few pictures without my usual ramblings because it's Sunday and I'm lazy! 

Looks a lot like the Grand Canyon.

A long hike took us to this point.









Another view from the same point.

The Colorado River Southwest of Moab.








Best view of the day!




We're in Mesa Verde, Colorado at the moment and we'll visit the cliff dwellings tomorrow.

Arches National Park

Today was Arches National Park day and what a day it was!

Near the entrance we were greeted by this rock formation. The sandstone rock has been eroded and what remains are columns of rock rising out of the desert.

This is called Balanced rock for obvious reasons. It looks like it shouldn't remain upright but somehow it does.

It's a short drive to Delicate arch where we saw this amazing arch standing in the desert. We hiked about a half mile uphill to get this view.





Another short drive and we hiked to Windows arches. Here we were able to hike under the arch and view this incredible structure.

Looking West from Windows we saw another rock formation with still another arch.

We hiked back to the car and continued our tour of the park. It's an incredible place and not to be missed when in Southeastern Utah.
Tonight we tour the little town of Moab and tomorrow we'll visit Canyon lands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. Then after a night of rest we'll head to Mesa Verde Colorado,

Goblin Valley near Green River Utah

Today we visited a beautiful but little known State park near Green River. 






The rock formations are created by erosion with the harder sandstone eroding slower than the softer siltstone. Hence we have these unusual shapes they call
Goblins.





The area is large and magical rock formations are everywhere. We hiked to the far ridge taking our time to name some of the formations.

This one we named "ET" for obvious reasons.

Friends Ken and Beth joined us in Green River and we spent about two  hours hiking in the valley.





Ken is holding up the rock...... no he's not pushing it over

One last formation. These I called the "Chinese Children" since the looked like children from the Disney ride It's a Small World
Goblin Valley is a pretty amazing place and we really enjoyed our time there. Off to Moab tomorrow.

Fall RV trip

Greetings from Sat Lake City. We're breaking with tradition ( and that's going to Oregon and Washington in the fall) this year and have headed East on interstate 80 to Salt Lake City.

We've spent the past three days touring the city and most of the time has been spent in Temple Square. The architecture is incredible and there's lots to take in. The grounds are immaculate and our Mormon guides on our many tours are outstanding. More information on the Mormon faith than I thought possible. After three days if I'm not  a Mormon I guess I'll never become one.

On Sunday morning we boarded a tour bus for a full day of visiting the city. It's a great way to see the sights and not have to worry about traffic. Our first stop was at the Mormon Tabernacle to hear the choir. What an amazing concert. A half hour of super music from the 385 voice choir with full orchestra accompanying them. It was a highlight of our time here.

 Last night we visited with friends we haven't seen in a long time. It was a special evening and they took time out of their weekend to see us.
A  wonderful evening and thanks Pam!

This morning we headed back to Temple Square to visit the Mormon conference center. It is truly a wonder. In the main auditorium seen here there is seating for 21,000 and it is host to conferences and Choir performances at Christmas time and during the summer when visitors overwhelm the Tabernacle.
Tomorrow it's off to Green River in South Eastern Utah to meet friends and visit Goblin Valley State Park then on to Moab, Utah. More from there.

Alaskan Adventure - part two

Back again for the second and final installment of our Alaskan adventure.
We're still in Wrangell and it's now Saturday and the last day before we  head on to Juneau.

We drove across the island and launched Dave's boat on the other side. We were heading Southeast about 30 miles by boat to a island called Anan to visit the bears.

This waterway is called the narrows and we went through them and on to Anan.

Another view from the boat launch area. The day was cloudy but no rain so it was pleasant.











This is a short video clip so you may have to click on it to see the video This area is one of the best in the world for bear viewing and  at this time  of the year the Salmon are running and the bears are fishing. An amazing site in the wild









Another short bear clip. We saw about 6 black bear as it was still about a week early for the  big show. They said that they have identified about 20 individuals that fish here every year and when the Salmon are in full run they see them all.




This is Dave our trusted boat captain, guide and fount of information. Note the gun in his hand. All the party leaders who come here carry loaded guns "just in case" I questioned the need for the gun and was told it was indeed necessary as a precaution. We were in the bears home and  while a violent encounter was unlikely it was possible. We spent lots of time here and then took a 3/4 mile  hike back to  the boat.



Back at the mouth of the river Heber contemplates the water and  looks for fish. Back in the boat Andi did the driving and we found our way home. What a great day and it was one of the highlights of our stay on Wrangell Island.





On Sunday we flew to Juneau in the morning and did some sightseeing in the afternoon. We took the tram up the mountain and were rewarded with this view of Juneau. Juneau is the capital of Alaska and I was surprised at how small and rural the town is.,







From the tram station we hiked up the  mountain to this overlook with a cross. Again, another magnificent view of a beautiful area.








Monday was rainy.... one of only two days of wet weather on the trip..... so we walked the town and took in the sights. Tuesday we rented a car and headed out to the Mendenhall glacier. Here we see the glacier on the left and a waterfall on the right.








We hiked to the waterfall and from there got a great look at the Mendenhall glacier. Since 1975 the glacier has receded about one mile and continues to do so today.

This is just so you can see that we survived the time in Alaska. Thanks for taking the picture, Heber.

 This is the Juneau harbor as seen from our hotel window. Lots of cruise ship so lots of folks in downtown every day. They didn't seem to bother us  so we just had a great time in Juneau. Thanks to Heber and Natalie for letting us tag along on  their visit to see daughter Andi. We're home now and the next adventure will be the desert Southwest in September. So.... till then have a great summer,