Hi, All... it's been awhile since we've posted our adventures... That's cuz we've been running away from some extreme weather. Good news is that we've been camping at some fantastic places with no wifi, no cell reception and no TV! To escape a major weather front coming from the NW, we decided to head straight West to Colorado. We actually missed the tornado weather which ran from Kansas (where we were), touched down in Oklahoma City (where we were a day before), south to San Antonio (where we were also)!
YIKES... thought we were following the sun! Instead, the foul weather keeps on following us.
We're in Sparks NV now and as I'm writing, it is STILL RAINING! Check out our weather pics below. We went from KS, to CO, back to AZ, heading north east in NV and then across the state to the western part on Nevada's loneliest highway! This Great Basin region in NV was absolutely amazing.... thousands and thousands of acres of just open range, mountains and valleys. Elevation going up and down from 4000 ft to 8000 ft, down to 6000 ft then back again to 7000 ft, and then down again to 3000 ft! Amazing landscape... A two lane road all to our own for 400 miles.
We actually did have a hidden agenda aside from escaping the weather...... we're on our way NORTH to Seattle to shop for... guess what..... wedding dresses.... YES, Erin is getting MARRIED!!!! ;-) John Paul popped the question when they were in Mexico for a week (surfing & camping). We were in San Antonio, TX at the time. If you check out our pic from the River Walk, you see us clinking our wine glasses... I couldn't say it at the time, but we were actually celebrating the fact that John Paul called us and asked our permission to ask Erin to be his wife............... I know.... fantastic, huh!
The route we took on our way west was in the heart of the 4 Corners Indian Nations and the largest archeological sites in the world. We have never seen such amazing ruins, Native American culture preservation, geological landscapes, open range wildlife and cattle ranches. All unknown to us and quite hidden from the more famous tourist routes. Since many of these ruins were on cliffs.... I had no choice but to face my fear of heights!!!! In our 'Travel in Pictures' page, you'll see some interesting photos documenting my plight to overcome my fear... Allan's photography of all the insects he can find (BTW, he is our fly-terminator.... he knows how to kill flies with a rubber band!)....and some amazing photo's of all the ruins and geological landscape we've seen, including caves, caverns and gorges.
Our route took us from Greenburg, KS, home of the deepest hand dug well, where the city suffered an EF5 Tornado (we met with a survivor) to Cortez, CO to see the Canyon of the Ancients and Mesa Verde Nat'l Park where I climbed on ladders to the 'Balcony House' ruins (some 500 ft on a cliff)! After Mesa Verde, we headed to 4 Corners, then onward to the Grand Canyon. Again my fear of heights was tested when we decided to escape all the tourists and we took a helicopter tour into this great Canyon..... Pretty brave huh... Wait.... I'm not done being tested... After the Grand Canyon, we went to Boulder City, NV and ...yikes... the Hoover Dam was there...and I had to look over the edge...holding very tight to Allan's coat-tails.. As if that wasn't enough, we headed north and found the Cathedral Gorge which was a real find. Onward to the Great Basin Nat'l Park which was straight north at the border of Nevada and Utah.... We had no idea that we were traveling on such a lonely road...we almost ran out of gas. But we found a tiny city called Baker right by the Park entrance. We found 1 gas pump, a RV park and a Bar... Life is good... Good thing we got our brewski while we registered our RV at the bar, as the bar promptly closed at 7pm! Told you it was a small town......
Do check out our 'Travel in pictures' page.... we've downloaded some fantastic photos... and you have to see me conquering my fears!!!!
Now for some weather pics, eery full moons, amazing sunsets, snow, sleet, hail, rain, fog, and strong winds!