Sandi and I have the same days off so we make it a point to visit some place in the park each week. Yesterday we headed up to Mammoth to visit the Visitor Information Center there and hopefully to hike one of the trails to the old petrefied forest. Although we ran out of time and did not get to do the hike, we had a rather impressive day. Enroute to Mammoth a cinnamon black bear crossed the road and we were able to watch it for quite some time. We left the park through the Roosevelt Arch near Gardner Montana for lunch and had a great meal in a cafe in Gardner. On our return we saw Mountain Bighorn Sheep on the mountain right next to the road. During the day we would see two more herds of these interesting mammals. It is amazing how they cling to the narrow ledges of some rather steep cliffs.
We drove out to the Lamar Valley and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. On the way we sighted a pair of sandhill cranes with two fuzzy young as well as a great assortment of ducks and a pair of Wilson's phalaropes, a life bird for me. The bull elk are growing their antlers at the rate of 1/2" - 5/8" daily and we passed several right along the road.
The Lamar valley never disappoints us. Bison were in abundance and scattered amongst them were pronghorn antelope and elk. We stopped to watch two black bear sows, each with a cub. Although they were seveeral hundred yards away, they entertained us for quite a while. We drove out past the Yellowstone Association and foud four wolves near a carcass along the Lamar River. Wolves will gorge themselves, eating over 20 pounds at a time. Apparently they had just finished eating and were just working their way slowly up to the tree line to sleep off their diner. Ravens and magpies were enjoying the left-overs. About half the elk that wolves kill are confiscated by grizzly bears and once a bear claims the carcass, nothig else is allowed near until the bear is done.
On our way home, Sandi noticed something in the distance near the Lamar River and we stopped in time to see it get into the river and cross it. Even with only the head visable above the water, we could easily identify it as a large bear. I came up the bank and ran around and eventually started toward us. This was an adult Grizzly bear and it's shoulder hump, dished face and ears were easily seen. It was several hundred yards away and we watched as it ran around and occasionally stopped to scrounge up something to eat. A crowd soon gathered and the large bear continued to move closer. It stopped about 100 yards away and rooted around for food then suddenly started running straight towards us sending everyone scrambling to their cars. After passing in front of us and crossing the road between cars that were lined up watching, it worked its way away from the crow.. What an experience!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Monday, June 08, 2009
The Yellowstone Rangers
We flew back to Salt Lake City, picked up our RV which was at the Freightliner truck facility for an oil change, and moved up to the Hill Air Force Base FamCamp near Ogden, a few miles north of Salt Lake City. We took a day trip to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake to see the bison, antelope, mule deer, and assorted birds. I picked up a couple additional life birds including the lazuli bunting and the California Gull which is the Utah state bird and is well know for breaking the plague of locusts the Mormon’s experienced when they first settled in the Salt Lake City. Our next day’s travel took us back into Salt Lake City where we toured the Church of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints, Mormon, complex. The Temple is an interesting piece of architecture and is off limits for non-church members but the rest of the complex is available. Two early 20ish female missionaries took us around, providing some Mormon history, personal testimony, and showed us some of the Mormon outreach and humanitarian projects. From there we went to do some genealogical research. The genealogy facility is impressive but our limited time proved insufficient to enable us to make any major discoveries.
The Tabernacle Choir practices on Thursday evenings and most of the practice is open to the public. We took advantage in the opportunity and got to hear the world famous choir and the 11,000+ pipe organ. The Sunday service where the radio program is broadcast from is also open to the public and we have placed that on our list of to do things for our next time through Salt Lake City.
We just happended to find out about a 140th anniversary of the Golden Spike Ceremony at Pronimatory Point near Salt Lake City where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads met completing the building of the trans continental railroad. We were quite impressed and moved by the significance of the event.
An easy three hour drive took us to the Lava Hot Springs in Idaho. Run by the state of Idaho, these commercial hot springs are very nice. There were about 5 different pools with temperatures ranging from about 102 degrees to 110 degrees. We started at the cooler pools and ended up in the hottest. These pools are open year round and the photos in the brochure show bathers in the pools with snow covering everything around the pools. That would be a treat. We will probably stop back here sometime and maybe we will be fortunate to catch some snow.
One day at the hot springs was enough to cleanse our systems and we continued another three hours to Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a weird place to say the least. Lava flows from over 15000 years ago to as recent as 2000 years ago have created a landscape that defies description. The lunar landing astronauts trained here for a reason although the moon’s surface is pocked from meteor impacts, not from lava. Cinder cones and spatter cones dot the 50mile by 30 mile park. Displays and movies in the visitor center describe the various types of flows and lavas. Nether Sandi or I have had much experience with volcanoes or lave so we were like to kids in a new and exciting learning environment. Though the lava in this park is predominantly basaltic, we are still able to relate some with our Yellowstone experiences where much of the lava is rhyolite. Interestingly enough the calderas that form a smile like arc through Idaho along the Snake River all occurred when the continental land mass moved over the hotspot located now where Yellowstone is.
Sandi and I drove the seven mile loop road and climbed to the top of Inferno Mountain which is a relatively recent cinder cone, a volcano that was active only 2000 years ago. After hiking through one of the lava tubes, we figured we had experienced Craters of the Moon and decided to continue towards Yellowstone.
A short two hour drive brought us to Rigby, Idaho, just north of Idaho Falls. Our purpose here was two-fold: 1) Meet with the technician who set up our internet satellite system several years ago and 2) Tour the Titanic Artifacts exhibit. The exhibit was interesting. The tickets we purchased were boarding passes and each of us had a pass with information about an original Titanic traveler. At the end we were able to check our names with a list of all passengers and found out that neither of us completed the voyage although Sandi’s traveler had a wife and two small children who were rescued.
The technician solved my internet problem by replacing a slightly warped dish and then allowed us to remain in his driveway for the evening. His wife’s parents, the Fenstermachers, trace their ancestors to Berks and Lehigh Counties in PA and were interested in meeting us so they came to the RV for a visit. Mrs. Fenstermacher is a genealogist for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and offered help when I needed it. We had a great visit.
We made it to Yellowstone National Park, arriving just a couple days before our training. Our season got off to an exciting start when we fortuned to get to see a small pack of three wolves harass and then kill a wounded elk. The head wolf researcher in Yellowstone has only witnessed ten kills so we felt extremely fortunate to have been able to watch this somewhat gruesome but very natural cycling of energy in the food chain. Our pre-season training on the resources was exceptional with great presentations on wolves, history, and geology.
Finally in the park ranger uniform, I am fulfilling a life long desire. I am a park ranger and am loving it. Sandi is back on the job as a volunteer at the Madison Visitor Center. Two of Sandi’s days off coincide with mine but she gets an additional day or two off every week. It has been a while since either of us has put in 8 hour days and sleeping comes easy nearly every night.
Time off for me has been devoted almost entirely to preparing the minimum of seven programs that I am scheduled to present. As I get closer to completion on these preps, I can finally get out to cast a fly in nearby trout streams. Sandi has been catching up on some of her sewing and together we have been visiting and touring other visitor centers around the park. Yesterday we hiked the Lake Overlook trail near Grant Village. The two-mile moderately strenuous hike took us through prime bear country but all we saw was some bear scat and a few elk including one spotted new-born.
Yellowstone is still the wonderland we experienced two years ago and our experiences this year have been every-bit as enjoyable and exciting as those we had in the past. My duties include far more than just doing the programs for the Junior Rangers as well as adults but the gratification I get from helping youngster make a connection with this park is ample compensation and outweighs the drudgery of selling entrance permits and occasionally manning a road barrier. So far this season at Yellowstone appears to be heading in the right direction.
The Tabernacle Choir practices on Thursday evenings and most of the practice is open to the public. We took advantage in the opportunity and got to hear the world famous choir and the 11,000+ pipe organ. The Sunday service where the radio program is broadcast from is also open to the public and we have placed that on our list of to do things for our next time through Salt Lake City.
We just happended to find out about a 140th anniversary of the Golden Spike Ceremony at Pronimatory Point near Salt Lake City where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads met completing the building of the trans continental railroad. We were quite impressed and moved by the significance of the event.An easy three hour drive took us to the Lava Hot Springs in Idaho. Run by the state of Idaho, these commercial hot springs are very nice. There were about 5 different pools with temperatures ranging from about 102 degrees to 110 degrees. We started at the cooler pools and ended up in the hottest. These pools are open year round and the photos in the brochure show bathers in the pools with snow covering everything around the pools. That would be a treat. We will probably stop back here sometime and maybe we will be fortunate to catch some snow.
One day at the hot springs was enough to cleanse our systems and we continued another three hours to Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a weird place to say the least. Lava flows from over 15000 years ago to as recent as 2000 years ago have created a landscape that defies description. The lunar landing astronauts trained here for a reason although the moon’s surface is pocked from meteor impacts, not from lava. Cinder cones and spatter cones dot the 50mile by 30 mile park. Displays and movies in the visitor center describe the various types of flows and lavas. Nether Sandi or I have had much experience with volcanoes or lave so we were like to kids in a new and exciting learning environment. Though the lava in this park is predominantly basaltic, we are still able to relate some with our Yellowstone experiences where much of the lava is rhyolite. Interestingly enough the calderas that form a smile like arc through Idaho along the Snake River all occurred when the continental land mass moved over the hotspot located now where Yellowstone is.Sandi and I drove the seven mile loop road and climbed to the top of Inferno Mountain which is a relatively recent cinder cone, a volcano that was active only 2000 years ago. After hiking through one of the lava tubes, we figured we had experienced Craters of the Moon and decided to continue towards Yellowstone.
A short two hour drive brought us to Rigby, Idaho, just north of Idaho Falls. Our purpose here was two-fold: 1) Meet with the technician who set up our internet satellite system several years ago and 2) Tour the Titanic Artifacts exhibit. The exhibit was interesting. The tickets we purchased were boarding passes and each of us had a pass with information about an original Titanic traveler. At the end we were able to check our names with a list of all passengers and found out that neither of us completed the voyage although Sandi’s traveler had a wife and two small children who were rescued.
The technician solved my internet problem by replacing a slightly warped dish and then allowed us to remain in his driveway for the evening. His wife’s parents, the Fenstermachers, trace their ancestors to Berks and Lehigh Counties in PA and were interested in meeting us so they came to the RV for a visit. Mrs. Fenstermacher is a genealogist for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and offered help when I needed it. We had a great visit.
We made it to Yellowstone National Park, arriving just a couple days before our training. Our season got off to an exciting start when we fortuned to get to see a small pack of three wolves harass and then kill a wounded elk. The head wolf researcher in Yellowstone has only witnessed ten kills so we felt extremely fortunate to have been able to watch this somewhat gruesome but very natural cycling of energy in the food chain. Our pre-season training on the resources was exceptional with great presentations on wolves, history, and geology.
Finally in the park ranger uniform, I am fulfilling a life long desire. I am a park ranger and am loving it. Sandi is back on the job as a volunteer at the Madison Visitor Center. Two of Sandi’s days off coincide with mine but she gets an additional day or two off every week. It has been a while since either of us has put in 8 hour days and sleeping comes easy nearly every night.Time off for me has been devoted almost entirely to preparing the minimum of seven programs that I am scheduled to present. As I get closer to completion on these preps, I can finally get out to cast a fly in nearby trout streams. Sandi has been catching up on some of her sewing and together we have been visiting and touring other visitor centers around the park. Yesterday we hiked the Lake Overlook trail near Grant Village. The two-mile moderately strenuous hike took us through prime bear country but all we saw was some bear scat and a few elk including one spotted new-born.
Yellowstone is still the wonderland we experienced two years ago and our experiences this year have been every-bit as enjoyable and exciting as those we had in the past. My duties include far more than just doing the programs for the Junior Rangers as well as adults but the gratification I get from helping youngster make a connection with this park is ample compensation and outweighs the drudgery of selling entrance permits and occasionally manning a road barrier. So far this season at Yellowstone appears to be heading in the right direction.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Vegas and points north
Vegas to Salt Lake City
Las Vegas was great and we look forward to when we will get to return again. That may be years from now. We drove the short way from Vegas to Zion National Park in Utah.
The weather was still a little cool for us but we needed to work our way toward Yellowstone National Park. We had hoped to stay several days at Zion but all campground sites were full and we could only find a campground with a couple nites open. We made the best of it by visiting the visitor center and then on the full day, we put our bikes on the tram and rode the tram to the end of the road. A small hike toward the Narrows took us through some awsome scenery. Cliffs reaches skyward and the entire place has a spiritual feel about it. It was a spiritual place for the Paiute Indians but the Mormons and Methodist gave the towering cliffs and monuments their names. Called Little Zion by the Mormons because of the cathedral-like formations which the Methodists later named Angels Landing, The three Patriarchs, and the Great White Throne. After our hike we mounted our bikes for the 6.5 mile, nearly all down-hill coast back to the visitor center. The sun reflecting off the canyon walls created some warmth despite the occassional snow flurry.
From Zion we headed further north to Bryce Canyon. The RV Park we stayed at was a few feet below 8000’ feet and there was still snow in places. Hookups were limited to only electricity because of the still frozen ground. We parked amongst the ponderosa pines a few miles from the park entrance and made several daily trips into the park. On one day we drove the scenic drive through the park, stopping to look at each scenic look-out. The natural landscapes and stone sculptures defy description. A before-sunrise trip to the overlook at the main ampetheater proved well worth the time. Hot coffee in our thermos provided some comfort in the below freezing temperatures but seeing the hoodoos illuminate with the early morning sun’s warm reflecting light also took some of the edge off the cold. Seeing a hiking trail meandering through the natural sculpture garden a mile below the canyon rim was too much of an attraction and I donned my hiking gear and followed the trail down into the canyon, around the goblin-like hoodoos, and back to the top. With the daytime temperatures getting into the 60s, hiking was pleasant despite the elevation change from top to bottom and back up again.
After Bryce we headed further north and stopped at the Mystic Hot Springs for a soaking in the natural springs near Monroe Utah. Travertine terraces, the results of calcium precipitating from the 100+ degree water nearly consume the large tubs nestled into the hill above the campground.
Although we had planned to fly East to visit our kids, grandkids and my parents, a family funeral mandated altering our plans to fly east several days early. Despite the somberness of the occasion, we were ably to continue our trip as originally planned. In Maryland we were able to take Marisa and Sam to the National Zoo to see the Pandas and on the next day, with Bill, our son and their Dad along we rode the DC subway into town and enjoyed our favorite Smithsonian Museum, The Museum of Natural History. The Hope Diamond and other gems, and the collection of mammal skeletons interested the youngsters some but the insect exhibits seemed to provide the most entertainment. The butterfly house with a kaleidoscope-like display of multi-colored butterflies was the highlight. Armed with a display card showing different butterflies, Marisa led the way to finding and identifying the brilliant colored specimens that were everywhere. We passed through an airlock to enter the room and then again through another when we left where were closely inspected to make sure that no “hitchhiking” butterflies were catching a ride on our backs. The visit was way too short but we made the most of the short time we had and are already looking forward to our next trip back to Maryland.
We headed up to Pennsylvania for a few days with my parents. We had a great visit and one day my Brother Ken and his wife Kathy were able to joins us for diner. Not often the entire family gets together. It was special.
We left Pa and flew down to Alabama for a short visit with our Daughter and her family. The big event was to go see a theater production of “Alice in Wonderland- the biggest tea party.” Alice is our granddaughter’s idol, so to watch and participate in the somewhat interactive production was a real treat. Braelyn, to celebrate her up-coming third birthday, even got to go on stage with Alice. Despite the presence of all the exciting characters including the Rabbit who was always late, the March Hare, the Doormouse, and the Queen of Hearts, Braelyn just hugged her idol.
In all our visits and activities the grandkids seemed to find things they enjoyed but Sandi and I really had the best time just watching them.
Las Vegas was great and we look forward to when we will get to return again. That may be years from now. We drove the short way from Vegas to Zion National Park in Utah.
The weather was still a little cool for us but we needed to work our way toward Yellowstone National Park. We had hoped to stay several days at Zion but all campground sites were full and we could only find a campground with a couple nites open. We made the best of it by visiting the visitor center and then on the full day, we put our bikes on the tram and rode the tram to the end of the road. A small hike toward the Narrows took us through some awsome scenery. Cliffs reaches skyward and the entire place has a spiritual feel about it. It was a spiritual place for the Paiute Indians but the Mormons and Methodist gave the towering cliffs and monuments their names. Called Little Zion by the Mormons because of the cathedral-like formations which the Methodists later named Angels Landing, The three Patriarchs, and the Great White Throne. After our hike we mounted our bikes for the 6.5 mile, nearly all down-hill coast back to the visitor center. The sun reflecting off the canyon walls created some warmth despite the occassional snow flurry.
From Zion we headed further north to Bryce Canyon. The RV Park we stayed at was a few feet below 8000’ feet and there was still snow in places. Hookups were limited to only electricity because of the still frozen ground. We parked amongst the ponderosa pines a few miles from the park entrance and made several daily trips into the park. On one day we drove the scenic drive through the park, stopping to look at each scenic look-out. The natural landscapes and stone sculptures defy description. A before-sunrise trip to the overlook at the main ampetheater proved well worth the time. Hot coffee in our thermos provided some comfort in the below freezing temperatures but seeing the hoodoos illuminate with the early morning sun’s warm reflecting light also took some of the edge off the cold. Seeing a hiking trail meandering through the natural sculpture garden a mile below the canyon rim was too much of an attraction and I donned my hiking gear and followed the trail down into the canyon, around the goblin-like hoodoos, and back to the top. With the daytime temperatures getting into the 60s, hiking was pleasant despite the elevation change from top to bottom and back up again.After Bryce we headed further north and stopped at the Mystic Hot Springs for a soaking in the natural springs near Monroe Utah. Travertine terraces, the results of calcium precipitating from the 100+ degree water nearly consume the large tubs nestled into the hill above the campground.
Although we had planned to fly East to visit our kids, grandkids and my parents, a family funeral mandated altering our plans to fly east several days early. Despite the somberness of the occasion, we were ably to continue our trip as originally planned. In Maryland we were able to take Marisa and Sam to the National Zoo to see the Pandas and on the next day, with Bill, our son and their Dad along we rode the DC subway into town and enjoyed our favorite Smithsonian Museum, The Museum of Natural History. The Hope Diamond and other gems, and the collection of mammal skeletons interested the youngsters some but the insect exhibits seemed to provide the most entertainment. The butterfly house with a kaleidoscope-like display of multi-colored butterflies was the highlight. Armed with a display card showing different butterflies, Marisa led the way to finding and identifying the brilliant colored specimens that were everywhere. We passed through an airlock to enter the room and then again through another when we left where were closely inspected to make sure that no “hitchhiking” butterflies were catching a ride on our backs. The visit was way too short but we made the most of the short time we had and are already looking forward to our next trip back to Maryland.
We headed up to Pennsylvania for a few days with my parents. We had a great visit and one day my Brother Ken and his wife Kathy were able to joins us for diner. Not often the entire family gets together. It was special.
We left Pa and flew down to Alabama for a short visit with our Daughter and her family. The big event was to go see a theater production of “Alice in Wonderland- the biggest tea party.” Alice is our granddaughter’s idol, so to watch and participate in the somewhat interactive production was a real treat. Braelyn, to celebrate her up-coming third birthday, even got to go on stage with Alice. Despite the presence of all the exciting characters including the Rabbit who was always late, the March Hare, the Doormouse, and the Queen of Hearts, Braelyn just hugged her idol.
In all our visits and activities the grandkids seemed to find things they enjoyed but Sandi and I really had the best time just watching them.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada
We made it to Tucson but we’ve experienced a lot since the last posting. The Chapter-8 Ralley ended in Guaymas and the group of 50 or so Rvers split up into smaller groups and either headed back to the states or continued on to other destinations in Mexico. Our last day at the campground in Guaymas was devoted to getting some dental work done. I needed a crown and a filling. The total cost with two visits came to about $170. Not bad. We departed the Hotel/RV campground in Guaymas and rendezvoused with friends at a boondock site on the Pacific Ocean beach between Guaymas and the resort town of San Carlos. Boondocking is just parking somewhere and living off of the systems in the RV – no outside power, water, or sewer hook-ups. Sandi and I can easily go a week between times when we have to fill up our water tanks and dump our holding tanks. At this site we were just a few yards from the beach. Lots of birds, dolphins, sun, sand and not much more. We were with four other RVs that had made the trip with us to Quaymas from the states. 
Every evening a local huckster would stop by with fresh seafood and vegetables. A kilo (2.2 pounds) of huge shrimp cost about $7US but came with handfulls of fresh beans, squash, and grapefruit. The next night it was kilos of picked crabmeat.
We left the boondock site and headed south about 150 miles to Alamos and stayed in a small but nice RV park within walking distance of town. The RV park was quite nice. We were parked under comquat trees laden with fruit. Blooming bugamvillas boardered the park and every morning an extravigant bird show kept us entertained. Streaked-backed orioles, black-throated grey and Lucy’s warblers were common. Hummingbirds were abundant but moved too much for me to get positive identification. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and it just happened that Saturday nights are family nites around the plaza in the center of town.
Virtually every Mexican town has a beautiful plaza with the church on one side and the govermnent buildings on the other. This was required in the 1500s when Spain was in charge. Alamos is quite an historic town. It was the capitol of the province when Spain governed all the territory north to Las Angeles, CA and Albuquerque, NM. The first 28 people to settle Los Angles made the trip from Alamos. Some of the buildings in the town date back to the 1500s. We strolled the town, ate some great food from vendors on the street and marvelled at the ancient buildings and walls. Sandi bought a beaded bracelet made by one of the local indian tribes. One day a few of us travelled out to a reservoir for more birding and saw hundreds of crested caracaras as well as numerous kingbirds, flycatchers and more unidentifiable hummingbirds. 
We departed Alamos and headed further south to El Fuerte. The most direct route required traveling 15 miles of dirt road so we opted to take a longer route on the hard surfaced roads. The RV park was little more than a parking lot beside a hotel. El Fuerte is named for an old Spanish Fort that was built in the mid 1500 to protect the Spaniards from the local indian population. We toured the town and walked through some beautiful hotels that charge about $55 US per nite. We stopped at a hotel that overlooked the El Fuerte River for a cervasa (beer) and found the platio swarming with hummingbirds. broad-billed, violet capped, and plain-capped start throats were everywhere. The proprietor was bird literate and was quick to recognize our birding interest. He helped identify the hummingbirds and was quick to set up his spotting scope to point out great kiskadees, social flycatchers, and assorted orioles from his tropical deck. He invited us to come back in the morning for a better experience and introduced us to his brother, the real birder, who offered to take us on a birding safari. We joined him the next morning for a great birding trip. He took us to several habitats and we added northern jancanas and bare throated tiger herons to our life lists. By boat we travelled to the largest blue heron rookery I’ve ever seen with hundreds of pairs of blue herons and almost as many great egret pairs covering the trees. We hiked into the brush to see rufus-bellied chachalacas and some old Mayan petroglyphs.
El Fuerte is also the jumping off point to go to the Copper Canyon of Mexico. Several times larger than the Grand Canyon of the US this is a major Mexican tourist area. The most popular way to get there is by train so we bought tickets on the first class train with a dining car and a bar car and rode it to the town of Creel which is tourist central for the Copper Canyon. Mexico’s Copper canyon is about 4-5 times a large as our Grand Canyon and is deeper. The train ride was awesome as we headed from near sea level to over 8000’ above. 
We went from desert through oak forests to pine forests. We crossed some scarry narrow bridges and passed through about 50 tunnels, some nearly ½ mile long. We stayed two nights in Creel. The manager of our hotel (also the rail station attendant) was our guide who took us to Tarahumara Indian, or now known as Raramuri (those who walk through life), villages, and showed us some interesting rock formations (Mushroom valley, and Valley of the erect penises), waterfalls and great scenery. 
We caught the train south from Creel to Bahuichivo where we chanced to meet Albierto Ciacceo and his wife who offered nights lodging at his little inn for about $17/nite. The fee included transportation from the train station to Cerochui (about 36 kilometers on dirt roads) and also a guided hike into a local canyon to see the waterfalls and a chance meeting with more Raramuri Indians out gathering wood.
The Raramuri are noted for their long distance running skills. They can run 20 hours straight while kicking and hitting a wooden ball the entire way. The Spanish forced them into the mountains and to this day some family groups continue to migrate from the canyon rim in the summertime where they grow corn to the warmer canyon valleys in the winter. Some still live in caves but many are settling in small villages. The women all still wear colorful traditional garb but the men all look like cowboys.
Albierto took us all down to the town of Urique in the bottom of the canyon. The road literally hung on cliffs and followed switchback after switch back as we descended from about 8000’ to 1800 feet in about 18 miles. In the tropical-like canyon bottom, Sandi picked a fresh papaya, and I got to watch dozens of broad bill, violet-crowned and white eared hummingbirds before Albierto took us back up the mountain to the train station for our trip back to El Fuerte.
From El Fuerte we continued south, our caravan of RVs now down to two, as members each begin to head out their own way. Our travelmate is Randy Dolan from Colorado. We travelled to the resort town of Mazatlan and after a harrowing drive down crowded city streets, we finally pulled into a resturaunt (La Palapa) parking lot and received permission from the owner to stay there for $7 US per nite. We had a great dinner in the resturaunt and each had a tequila shooter, compliments of the owner. We strolled down to Senior Frog, a tourist souvineer outlet, and later the next day visited the Centro Mercado or marketplace where anything from avacados, to clothing, to seafood and meats, to spices can be bought. The place is an amazing kleidoscope of colors and an eclectic assortment of stimuli to the senses.
We left Mazatlan early Sunday morning to aviod the traffic congestion and travelled another 100 miles south to Teacapan. I thought we were in paradise. We passed through miles of palm tree plantations, saw many birds in the mangrove-surrounded wetlands and finally parked next to the Pacific Ocean at an RV park with a beautiful swimming pool, small cabins and a beach that runs north and south as far as the eye can see with no one else in sight. This is essential the ecotome between the tropical rain forest and the Sonoran Desert. Although staying longer was tempting, we packed up and after about a week on the beach, headed back north following the free roads most of the way. Back to Guaymas. I had a dental apointment to get my cap put on and while there we went to the market to get 50 kilos of rice and beans to drop off at the Catholic Church kitchen in Benjamin Hill. The priest was ecstatic and sent out for an interpreter who conveyed his appreciation. We drove straight through from Benjamin Hill to Nogales and then on to Sierra Vista where our car was parked. We remained there a few days then made the short drive to Tucson.
Tucson was supposed to be just rest and relaxation but we did some touring. We headed to the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, part of the Coronado National Forest, and while I was out hiking and birding, Sandi met the Volunteer Coordinator and got both of us “hired” as volunteers for early fall. Sandi will work at the Visitor Information Center and I will run a Junior Ranger program. They will give us a place to park our RV for a few hours each, and we get to enjoy Tucson on our days off.
We also headed to the Saguaro National Park (west) and the Saguaro Desert Museum. 
This is an awesome zoo and deserves much more time that we gave it. We’ll return again on our next pass through Tucson. After nearly a week in Tucson we began our trip toward Yellowstone. Sandi has been selected for a volunteer position at the Madison Junior Ranger station and I will be working s a seasonal ranger in the same district.
From Tucson we passed through Phoenix and stopped for one night at the North Ranch Escapee Park in Congress, AZ. This neat, not so little, community of Rvers has daily activities. We went to the ice cream social and learned that last week they had a woodcarving convention with about 100 carvers and this week is dedicated to beading and over 100 have signed up for those activities.
From Congress our route took us over the Hoover Dam.
What a trip that was and it filled a lifetime wish of Sandi’s. We are staying at the FamCamp at Nellis AFB (Home of the USAF Thunderbirds) and it is wonderful. We took a day and drove to California and through the Death Valley. What a beautiful place. We have made a mental not to return and spend a week sightseeing and hiking. The salt flats at over 250 feet below sea level are intriguing and the colors on the rocks, especially along the Artist Drive and at Artist’s Pallet are almost un-natural. 
We followed Twenty Mule Team Canyon Drive and saw unbelievable rock and dirt formations and also visited the Parks’ visitor center at Furnace Creek and learned of the geologic and human history of the valley. The 300 mile drive made for a long day but the scenery we saw crossing gaps in snow-capped mountains and the broad desert valleys was breathtaking and made the trip very worthwhile.
Last night was our night out in Vegas. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas but we’ll admit that we went to Ceaser’s Palace and had a diner and a show. Seeing Elton John life was great. He is an awesome entertainer and the show with all the lights and videos was a real experience to say the least..
This rather long epistle brings us up to date. From here we will head north through a few National Parks in Utah, we’ll Spend a little time in Salt Lake City, and will fly back East for a much-needed Grandkids fix. After returning from our visits with family we will continue on to Yellowstone National Park, where we will spend the summer.
Every evening a local huckster would stop by with fresh seafood and vegetables. A kilo (2.2 pounds) of huge shrimp cost about $7US but came with handfulls of fresh beans, squash, and grapefruit. The next night it was kilos of picked crabmeat.We left the boondock site and headed south about 150 miles to Alamos and stayed in a small but nice RV park within walking distance of town. The RV park was quite nice. We were parked under comquat trees laden with fruit. Blooming bugamvillas boardered the park and every morning an extravigant bird show kept us entertained. Streaked-backed orioles, black-throated grey and Lucy’s warblers were common. Hummingbirds were abundant but moved too much for me to get positive identification. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and it just happened that Saturday nights are family nites around the plaza in the center of town.
Virtually every Mexican town has a beautiful plaza with the church on one side and the govermnent buildings on the other. This was required in the 1500s when Spain was in charge. Alamos is quite an historic town. It was the capitol of the province when Spain governed all the territory north to Las Angeles, CA and Albuquerque, NM. The first 28 people to settle Los Angles made the trip from Alamos. Some of the buildings in the town date back to the 1500s. We strolled the town, ate some great food from vendors on the street and marvelled at the ancient buildings and walls. Sandi bought a beaded bracelet made by one of the local indian tribes. One day a few of us travelled out to a reservoir for more birding and saw hundreds of crested caracaras as well as numerous kingbirds, flycatchers and more unidentifiable hummingbirds. 
We departed Alamos and headed further south to El Fuerte. The most direct route required traveling 15 miles of dirt road so we opted to take a longer route on the hard surfaced roads. The RV park was little more than a parking lot beside a hotel. El Fuerte is named for an old Spanish Fort that was built in the mid 1500 to protect the Spaniards from the local indian population. We toured the town and walked through some beautiful hotels that charge about $55 US per nite. We stopped at a hotel that overlooked the El Fuerte River for a cervasa (beer) and found the platio swarming with hummingbirds. broad-billed, violet capped, and plain-capped start throats were everywhere. The proprietor was bird literate and was quick to recognize our birding interest. He helped identify the hummingbirds and was quick to set up his spotting scope to point out great kiskadees, social flycatchers, and assorted orioles from his tropical deck. He invited us to come back in the morning for a better experience and introduced us to his brother, the real birder, who offered to take us on a birding safari. We joined him the next morning for a great birding trip. He took us to several habitats and we added northern jancanas and bare throated tiger herons to our life lists. By boat we travelled to the largest blue heron rookery I’ve ever seen with hundreds of pairs of blue herons and almost as many great egret pairs covering the trees. We hiked into the brush to see rufus-bellied chachalacas and some old Mayan petroglyphs.
El Fuerte is also the jumping off point to go to the Copper Canyon of Mexico. Several times larger than the Grand Canyon of the US this is a major Mexican tourist area. The most popular way to get there is by train so we bought tickets on the first class train with a dining car and a bar car and rode it to the town of Creel which is tourist central for the Copper Canyon. Mexico’s Copper canyon is about 4-5 times a large as our Grand Canyon and is deeper. The train ride was awesome as we headed from near sea level to over 8000’ above. 
We went from desert through oak forests to pine forests. We crossed some scarry narrow bridges and passed through about 50 tunnels, some nearly ½ mile long. We stayed two nights in Creel. The manager of our hotel (also the rail station attendant) was our guide who took us to Tarahumara Indian, or now known as Raramuri (those who walk through life), villages, and showed us some interesting rock formations (Mushroom valley, and Valley of the erect penises), waterfalls and great scenery. 
We caught the train south from Creel to Bahuichivo where we chanced to meet Albierto Ciacceo and his wife who offered nights lodging at his little inn for about $17/nite. The fee included transportation from the train station to Cerochui (about 36 kilometers on dirt roads) and also a guided hike into a local canyon to see the waterfalls and a chance meeting with more Raramuri Indians out gathering wood.
The Raramuri are noted for their long distance running skills. They can run 20 hours straight while kicking and hitting a wooden ball the entire way. The Spanish forced them into the mountains and to this day some family groups continue to migrate from the canyon rim in the summertime where they grow corn to the warmer canyon valleys in the winter. Some still live in caves but many are settling in small villages. The women all still wear colorful traditional garb but the men all look like cowboys.Albierto took us all down to the town of Urique in the bottom of the canyon. The road literally hung on cliffs and followed switchback after switch back as we descended from about 8000’ to 1800 feet in about 18 miles. In the tropical-like canyon bottom, Sandi picked a fresh papaya, and I got to watch dozens of broad bill, violet-crowned and white eared hummingbirds before Albierto took us back up the mountain to the train station for our trip back to El Fuerte.
From El Fuerte we continued south, our caravan of RVs now down to two, as members each begin to head out their own way. Our travelmate is Randy Dolan from Colorado. We travelled to the resort town of Mazatlan and after a harrowing drive down crowded city streets, we finally pulled into a resturaunt (La Palapa) parking lot and received permission from the owner to stay there for $7 US per nite. We had a great dinner in the resturaunt and each had a tequila shooter, compliments of the owner. We strolled down to Senior Frog, a tourist souvineer outlet, and later the next day visited the Centro Mercado or marketplace where anything from avacados, to clothing, to seafood and meats, to spices can be bought. The place is an amazing kleidoscope of colors and an eclectic assortment of stimuli to the senses.
We left Mazatlan early Sunday morning to aviod the traffic congestion and travelled another 100 miles south to Teacapan. I thought we were in paradise. We passed through miles of palm tree plantations, saw many birds in the mangrove-surrounded wetlands and finally parked next to the Pacific Ocean at an RV park with a beautiful swimming pool, small cabins and a beach that runs north and south as far as the eye can see with no one else in sight. This is essential the ecotome between the tropical rain forest and the Sonoran Desert. Although staying longer was tempting, we packed up and after about a week on the beach, headed back north following the free roads most of the way. Back to Guaymas. I had a dental apointment to get my cap put on and while there we went to the market to get 50 kilos of rice and beans to drop off at the Catholic Church kitchen in Benjamin Hill. The priest was ecstatic and sent out for an interpreter who conveyed his appreciation. We drove straight through from Benjamin Hill to Nogales and then on to Sierra Vista where our car was parked. We remained there a few days then made the short drive to Tucson.
Tucson was supposed to be just rest and relaxation but we did some touring. We headed to the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, part of the Coronado National Forest, and while I was out hiking and birding, Sandi met the Volunteer Coordinator and got both of us “hired” as volunteers for early fall. Sandi will work at the Visitor Information Center and I will run a Junior Ranger program. They will give us a place to park our RV for a few hours each, and we get to enjoy Tucson on our days off.
We also headed to the Saguaro National Park (west) and the Saguaro Desert Museum. 
This is an awesome zoo and deserves much more time that we gave it. We’ll return again on our next pass through Tucson. After nearly a week in Tucson we began our trip toward Yellowstone. Sandi has been selected for a volunteer position at the Madison Junior Ranger station and I will be working s a seasonal ranger in the same district.From Tucson we passed through Phoenix and stopped for one night at the North Ranch Escapee Park in Congress, AZ. This neat, not so little, community of Rvers has daily activities. We went to the ice cream social and learned that last week they had a woodcarving convention with about 100 carvers and this week is dedicated to beading and over 100 have signed up for those activities.
From Congress our route took us over the Hoover Dam.
What a trip that was and it filled a lifetime wish of Sandi’s. We are staying at the FamCamp at Nellis AFB (Home of the USAF Thunderbirds) and it is wonderful. We took a day and drove to California and through the Death Valley. What a beautiful place. We have made a mental not to return and spend a week sightseeing and hiking. The salt flats at over 250 feet below sea level are intriguing and the colors on the rocks, especially along the Artist Drive and at Artist’s Pallet are almost un-natural. 
We followed Twenty Mule Team Canyon Drive and saw unbelievable rock and dirt formations and also visited the Parks’ visitor center at Furnace Creek and learned of the geologic and human history of the valley. The 300 mile drive made for a long day but the scenery we saw crossing gaps in snow-capped mountains and the broad desert valleys was breathtaking and made the trip very worthwhile.
Last night was our night out in Vegas. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas but we’ll admit that we went to Ceaser’s Palace and had a diner and a show. Seeing Elton John life was great. He is an awesome entertainer and the show with all the lights and videos was a real experience to say the least..
This rather long epistle brings us up to date. From here we will head north through a few National Parks in Utah, we’ll Spend a little time in Salt Lake City, and will fly back East for a much-needed Grandkids fix. After returning from our visits with family we will continue on to Yellowstone National Park, where we will spend the summer.
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