Tuesday, December 18, 2018

2018 Fall Antares from LCYC to Chesapeake City, MD

We traveled to Florida again this fall.  Our posts have been put in a PDF file as well as a HTML file and it's folder.  The PDF file can be view directly. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TTKy36-vXZhGGWlWsPJS_Th_lD4K259Y

Leonard

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

2018 Boat Trip -Burlington to Ottawa, ON

We were invited to crew on Shell and Penny Rieley's power boat "Friendship" for the Rideau Canal loop they were doing with two other members from LCYC.  We did the 9 day part from from LCYC to Ottawa, ON.

Our trip notes and pictures are documented in:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1i_nvIk7k7akCGkBVgUUtX14-7pTgtK-x

The pictures are best viewed by using the view and zoom features of your browser.

Leonard

Monday, April 2, 2018

Back Home

March 16 - April 1, 2018

Since our return, the weather has been unusual here too - 11 clear days with N or NW wind, approaching 20 mph most days, with the thermometer struggling to reach 30F during the day and plunging down around 0F several nights.  Don't ever recall that many consecutive days without a wind shift before.

The one calm, sunny, warmish day, before the clouds appeared last Tuesday, we hiked on the Butler Lodge trail on Mt Mansfield where the snow pack was over  3',  much of it from the last nor'easter.  While the trail was packed and our micro spikes worked fine going up, there were numerous 'post holes' on the trail, some thigh deep, making us regret having left our snow shoes in the car on the way down.  Luckily, the sun had warmed things enough to soften the snow a bit, and the hike down wasn't as bad as we expected.

Hike on Mt. Mansfield on the way to Butler Lodge
What was amazing was to see the spring bulbs pushing through soil as the sun shrank the snow in front of the house.  Spring may still make an appearance (just not this week)!

That's All for now.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Last Days

Thursday, March 14, 2018

With a red eye flight out of Phoenix, we had time to do a bit more exploring along the way.  It would have been nicer if the next front hadn't coincided with our departure. Measurable snow was forecast down to 5500' starting before noon.  We were over 6000', and hoped to go over a mountain pass.  Since we seen most of the route along I 17, we wanted to take SR 89, the more scenic route, which meant some twisty, hair pin curves as we went through the mountain pass.

Panorama as we head out of Prescott on SR89 - the peaks are in the clouds again

Interesting house and rocks along the way to PeeplesValley

Someone had money -we saw miles and miles of this fence as we drove toward Congress, AZ
 Although the day dawned mostly clear, it soon clouded over, and we had some snow and sleet along the way.  Luckily traffic was light, making for an easier drive and stop along the way.  We tried to stop at the Prescott Hotshots Memorial at Yarnell, but the parking lot was full, with a number of people beginning the climb up to the monument.

Flame honeysuckle that attracted our Hummingbird lunch companion (see below)

Hummingbird that returned to his perch on an octillo after visiting the honeysuckle
Looking for a pit stop, we ended up at the Visitor's Center at Wickenburg.  The staff directed us to take the self walking tour of the town and suggested the Historical Museum might be a good place to visit to avoid the intermittent rain.  Since it was raining, we did, and learned our admission included a lecture by Steve Getzwiller titled 'One Trader's Legacy' beginning in half an hour.

Bedroom with quilts at the museum 

Riding a 'bucking bronco'

Horse sculpture outside the museum
Steve Getzwiller is a major collector, trader and supporter of Native American weaving, pottery and basketry along with rare guns and other items.  He began trading at 18 when he traded his collection of .22 rifles for some  Navajo rugs, and hasn't stopped since. He and his wife also run a ranch in Sonorita Arizona (Tucson area).  He has an interesting family history, being DAR on his mother's side while his father's family were instrumental in the founding of The Republic of Texas.  The small portion of his collection on display was phenomenal and his tale of collecting interesting.

In order to encourage ongoing interest in Navajo weaving, he supplies his favorite Navajo weavers with the yarn spun from his flock of Churro sheep (raised by the weavers).  Churro sheep have raised by the Navajo since the Spanish first introduced the the breed in the west.  Although the federal government tried to eradicate the breed several times in an effort to displace the native peoples from the land, the natives managed to secrete a small flocks in the mountains, preserving the genes for the current flocks.  The Churro withstand harsh conditions, and having less lanolin than most breeds, less water is needed to clean the wool.

Steve has the yarn spun and dyed to specification in Switzerland for the weavers. Since I both spin and weave, this part of his collection was especially interesting to me (and after looking at his website, beyond my budget.)  Check out his website

Interesting bird fountain in town

After the talk we finished the museum and walked through the town before heading to Phoenix.  Both were interesting and worth a visit.

Wickenburg emporium - several 'town folk' were on display in town
giving a bit of the town's history when you pushed a button

Wickenburg train
While our flight didn't depart until 2230, the car was due back at 1830.  When the friendly lady on the phone GPS warned of an accident causing a delay as we approached the city, we headed for the airport rather than do more exploring and paying a late fee for the car.  The one advantage to using Sixt for the car rental -  I'd never heard of them before, and although they 'appeared' less expensive at first glance, they  probably weren't given the  additional fees - was we weren't restricted to 'paved' roads.  The other, well known, rental agencies have that restriction in the fine print of the contract.  A cursory glance at the car gave us a thumbs up (we'd neither washed or vacuumed the interior), and had us on our way.

Our flights were on time, and a bonus for taking the red-eye flight was an interesting display of lightening in the clouds below us as we flew over the cold front as it moved east.  Impressive to watch from above.

It was a long night, and we arrived home around 1100 Friday to find a layer of snow (10") from the latest nor'easter, cold temperatures (winter is back) and a brisk N wind.  Maybe it's a good thing we didn't have shorts weather on the trip.  While drier than normal out west, the weather was also cooler than usual, requiring jeans and long sleeves, making it was less of a shock to return home to winter.

Yes, we did see a few road runners - and they were running, so no photos.  And as always, I welcome corrections on my bird IDs - somehow, they never quite look like the birds in the guides.  There are a LOT of LBB and LGB in the bush!


Tuesday, March 13, 2018

2018 Prescott - Off Road and Lynx Lake


Tuesday, March 13
 
The rest of us made plans to do some off roading on Tuesday - with 2 Jeeps, Caldwell's and Schumacher's (not ours, although it is essentially the same as Schumacher's) so we'd have room for everyone and the added safety of 2 vehicles if there was a problem.  We met at the Caldwell's RV at Orchard Ranch RV Park at 0845 for the long day of exploring Paige had planned.  This trip was advertised as more scenic than technical, but we had a time constraint as the Schumachers RV was at a repair shop and needed to be picked up by 1800.  The day's jaunt covered 164 miles, 90 of which were on Forest Service roads, including 4 river crossings (we'd know if the crossings were possible early in the first leg of the trip).   Given the number of miles planned (some of the FS roads driven at 10 - 15mph), that meant not a lot of time to stop and explore.

  One of many petroglyphs at Aqua Fria

Catalina Indian paintbrush blooming by the petroglyphs

We started at Bloody Basin where they 'de-aired' tire pressure for better grip in the rocks and entered Aqua Fria National Monument. Our first stop was above a cliff with petroglyphs which are not marked, and missed by those who don't know about them.  It was a clamber down and along the cliff, but worth the effort.  The petroglyphs were 'right there' and in one case, underfoot.  Unfortunately someone felt the need to add a F16 to the ancient designs.

Pot shards
We wandered through some pueblo ruins above the petroglyphs, and saw a number of pot shards  - a first for us.  It was interesting to see them scattered along the cliff and in the ruins.  Tempting though it was, all artifacts are sacred and not to be collected.  These ruins and petroglyphs are sacred to the native people, the Yavipai, in this part of Arizona.

View of the Tonto National Forest (High Resolution)

Stone cabin down in the valley
We made a short side trip to an old stone cabin before continuing on.  Paige offered another side trip - not as short in this case (15 miles and return), which Leonard wisely rejected given that it was almost noon.  We continued on to Sheep Bridge, a great shady place by a creek, for lunch.  By then, the time crunch was beginning to be real (and miles to go before I sleep...).  Bob tried to call and arrange to pay and pick up the RV after hours (they needed it that night), but with no cell coverage, and not likely to be any until we reached civilization close to I 17, we still needed to keep moving, just in case...

Red-tailed hawk - I saw it dive as we approached a hill, 
and there he was, just over the rise

View of the road heading out
We made a short stop to scope out the view from a big rock.  There was a trail to the top, and Bob who has more experience off roading, wanted to drive to the top - Mike and Paige were more than willing, so we did.  It was amazing to see what the Jeeps can do.  The trip down was more interesting (always more interesting than going up), and with one wheel in the air, down they drove.  Leonard and I walked down - I could have used my poles in the steep, loose gravel, but they were in the Jeep!

Bob backing up

And starting down

After that excursion, we only stopped briefly to take pictures a few times, but with 1 1/2 hours back to town, and a rougher section of trail ahead, time was getting very tight. Luckily, a grader had gone over the rougher stretch of road,  part of Trail #41, a county road rated as moderate, which according to Mike, was much smoother than the last time they'd done the trip (it wasn't all that smooth, and we'd been wondering what, if anything the grader had done other than to make a track).

Back in saguaro country - they don't tolerate frost -
we were almost in view of the Phoenix suburbs
A back seat observation - it can be bouncy.  I don't get motion sickness, but do regularly have 'land sickness', that spell when terra firma  doesn't feel all that firm.  The feeling lasted until I got into bed that night. That's on par for a lumpy day on the boat.

When we reached civilization, and they were 're airing' the tires, Bob contacted the garage and made arrangements to pick up the RV late (and learned that missing a part, the work had not been done). With some breathing room (we were some 50 miles S of Prescott) we included Paige's last stop, for pie at the Rock Spring Cafe in Black Canyon City, known for their pies.  Life's short - eat dessert before dinner!

In hind sight, the trip was too long given the time constraint.  It would have been  fun to have time to stop and explore. Going off road does get you off the beaten path and a chance to see and appreciate more of the country.  This trip was less technical than the one we'd done with the Caldwells to Chimney Rock in Tucson - no spotting needed for maneuvering through rocks, and the scenery was beautiful.  Thanks Paige, for all the planning!  We enjoyed the day.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

With Schumacher's RV back in the shop Wednesday, they made plans with the Caldwells to do some more technical terrain in the trails by Jerome.  We were invited, but declined, much as I would have liked to see Jerome.  We spent our last day in Prescott hiking, and getting ready to return home.  I needed to pack and ship a flat rate USPS box - my collection of rocks and petrified wood, not something I wanted in my back pack or luggage.

Lynx Lake trail

Abert's long-eared squirrel

Panorama of the view where we ate lunch (High Resolution)
We hiked around Lynx Lake (very popular and crowded, especially since Wednesdays are free days at the National Park).  Once around the lake, we took another trail over to the Highland's Center for Natural History. This trail had far fewer hikers (also more elevation change) and some nice views.  The Center was busy with a kid's camp since it was a school vacation week.  The return trail over to the road was more direct, giving us time to finish up packing and unwind after our whirlwind tour of the SW.

Gray-headed junco

Female acorn woodpecker
The Schumacher's stopped by for a visit,  to check out our Airbnb (with novel shower) and pick up the last of our 'left overs'.  In spite of trying not to over buy, we still had more fresh food (and wine) than we could eat.

They'd had a fun day, tackling terrain much tougher than the Caldwells had done before - lots of spotting to clear (or almost clear) rocks. They said we'd made a good choice not to join them, it would have been miserable in the back seat. One of the plastic trim pieces along the bottom of a door had cracked (removing all plastic when doing serious off roading is recommended).  They'd added some Arizona 'pin stripping' along the sides (scratches in the paint from brush or rocks) and dents to the protective pan under the vehicle from not quite cleared rocks.  Jerome sounded interesting (another ghost town), maybe some other time!

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Prescott Gatherings

Sunday March 10, 2018 continued

We arrived at our Airbnb in Prescott by 1430.  We met our host, Nicole and her 4 year old son, Johnny, as we brought in our gear.  After talking to her, we learned there was a section of the Airbnb website available after reservations are accepted that we had missed (gotta read ALL  the way to the bottom of the page...).  She had referred to a 'manual' in our email correspondence, which we thought was the 'house rules' leaving us unclear about where to park and find the key since that wasn't in the rules section.  We both learned something as she'd never seen what her guests get on the website after reserving a place.  Johnny was more interested in the cookies on the counter than anything on a computer screen - he received two.

As advertised, it was modern and chic.  Although small, it worked for us - the kitchen was one of the largest I had on the trip - while the living/dining area was small.  The floating shower (perched over the lower level) was novel, interesting and worked great.

We were once again close enough to walk to town.  We'd arranged to get together for a rendezvous (the first for the 2018 season) with several LCYC friends for dinner at the Prescott Brewing Company.  We were the only ones without an RV, but after hearing their problems, we had no regrets that we'd chosen the Airbnb route.  Bob and Barb Schumacher had to be towed back to Portland,OR for  repairs before coming south, Mary and Chuck Finn had ongoing problems, and Paige and Mike Caldwell spent more time in Tucson than planned, getting their coach repaired.  RVs, like boats, a;ways seem to have something that needs fixing, and we've all spent time working on our boats.

L-R, Mike and Paige Caldwell, Bob Schumacher, Chuck and Mary Finn - Barb Schumacher and I were hiding and Leonard was the photographer

Monday, March 12, 2018


Monday we joined the Finns and Schumachers at Point of Rocks, their RV park, to hike some of the nearby trails at Watson Lake.  It was a nice day and we had great views as we climbed the rocks along the lake and down to the dam. Supposedly there was a 5 mile hike around the lake, but one segment wasn't obvious on the trail map, so we backtracked after exploring to the creek below the dam.

  
RV's - Schumacher's on the left, Finn's on the right - Our rental (R) is basically the same jeep as Schumachers (L)


Heading out for a hike

Lake Watson

Lake Watson Dam

Female common golden eye

Western whiptail lizzard

After lunch we all drove into town to check out the shops on the streets surrounding the courthouse. We spent more time than I'd planned, with everyone finding something in one place or another as we poked around. While the courthouse anchors the town center, all 4 sides look the same making it easy to get disoriented if you aren't paying attention - usually my problem, but even Leonard got confused.  The 6 of us had dinner at the RV park as the Finns planned on heading for warmer climes (the nightly readings consistently had been dropping into the 30's) in the morning.




More Petrified Forest and on to Prescott

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Saturday morning we returned to the park and, after watching the video, took a longer walk in the Rainbow Forest.  We drove north to the Crystal Forest for the the short loop walk before returning to the museum to the trail head for the 2.6 mile hike to the Agate House and Giant Logs Trail.  While there are trails into the badlands, those on the park map are paved to make them user friendly,  and some are wheel chair accessible.  With limited time, we opted not to venture into the badlands.

A scattering of petrified wood deposited in a creek bed


Some information about how wood becomes petrified

  Some of colors in a petrified log

The Agate House, originally built of agatized wood blocks and mud mortar, was occupied sometime between 1050 and 1300, Late Pueblo II and III, but with few artifacts found nearby, it may have been a central gathering place rather than home.  The house was reconstructed by the CCC corp in the 1930's.  The Agate House Trail connected with the Long Logs Trail, a site of a Triassic log jam, that has a tangle of huge logs, some over 180' long.  Impressive!


Agate House

Detail of Agate House 'wood'

A few of the 'long logs'

Long logs and badlands

Panorama of the badlands along the Long Logs Trail
(High resolution photo)

Distinct layered stripes in the badlands
As we hiked, we could see rain falling from the clouds, but not reaching the ground.  The forecast included showers with steadier rain overnight - we're beginning to wonder if all the cold weather and rain has something to do with us!  We planned to stop at the Meteor Crater and hoped the showers would hold off until we had a chance to check it out.  We ran into a few showers as we headed west, but luckily they stopped when we arrived.

Meteor Crater - to give an idea of size, those tiny little black spots are people at a look out half way down the R side of the photo
(High Resolution Photo)

Some information about the crater - a series of cores were made in an attempt to find the meteor 
While video at the crater was interesting, we missed a docent led rim tour which would have made the stop more interesting.  We toured the museum and checked out the multiple lookouts.  Access to the rim was restricted to those on the docent tours.

The slant of the rock layers caused by the meteor strike
The site was impressive - a bowl, some 700' deep and 4000' across, carved out 50,000 years ago by a meteor estimated to have been 150' across, weighing several hundred thousand tons, and traveling about 26,000 MPH (but it looks like a hole in the ground).  The crater was used to train astronauts for the lunar landing.

A pair of ravens

Warning sign on the road to the Meteor Crater -
we've seen similar warnings, but I never had the camera ready

We spent the night in Flagstaff after having been sent on a goose chase thanks to the lady giving directions on the cell phone GPS.  Somehow she thought we were headed to a Travelodge in Tulsa , OK, not Flagstaff, AZ.  Her directions were still wrong after we got the city, and by then it was raining (there are 4 Travel Lodges in Flagstaff).  Needless to say, our accommodations for the night were, by far, the least desirable of the trip, and one of the more expensive.   Thankfully it was only for one night.

We drove into town for dinner and spent some time searching for a parking space.  Being a Saturday night, and a college town, the town was hopping, not unlike Burlington. We would have spent more time poking around, but it was still drizzling when we finished dinner, and it had been a long day!  With the train tracks running next to Route 66, no matter which motel we'd picked, we'd have been subject to the noise of multiple trains passing throughout the night.

Sunday,  March 11, 2018

Sunday morning, with time to spend before we could check in at our next Airbnb in Prescott, we drove up to Buffalo Park above Flagstaff for a walk. With the drizzle, we thought we'd have the place to ourselves only to find a number people already getting some exercise.  The parking lot was filling up by the time we'd finished the 2 mile exercise loop.  Thankfully it only drizzled and the sky had a few small patches of  blue giving promise of clearing later in the day.

The buffalo at the park entrance

The park trail with the clouds down on the mountains
(High Resolution Photo)

We took the longer, scenic route to Sedona - it was beautiful, with the mountains disappearing and reappearing in the clouds as we drove the twisty road down the canyon.  Traffic was fairly light until we approached Sedona which was packed with traffic and tourists giving us little enticement to stop and explore.

The buck at Kachina Village - made from car bumpers
when the button was pushed, he suggested our 'bucks' would be well spent inside - it had lots of nice, expensive things to purchase -
I liked one 'old' early 20th C native basket with a price tag of $1300

Kachina outside the store

As we approached Cottonwood and added a stop at Trader Joe's in Prescott to our route, I had an issue with the lady on the cell phone. I'd planned to stay on the back roads to Prescott, but she insisted we take the longer 2 legs of the triangle including going back to I17.  Apparently she doesn't do scenic or switch backs, preferring the fastest route.  Sometimes she's not to be trusted - we've had  occasions where her directions are wrong.  In this case, both TJ's and Costco were close to town. I should have stuck to my guns. After a quick stop at TJ's, the GPS lady directed us to our Prescott AirBnB with no more problems.