Here we go!

Well friends...if you want to follow along, I will attempt to once again search out wifi friendly stops along the way this year. We have already taken a short "side trip" to Cape San Blas, Florida...my most favorite beach spot EVER! We did much kayaking, swimming and snorkeling. Dennis did some fishing but was not too successful...if the only measure of success is catching fish, that is.

Anyway, while kayaking we hit a shallow spot that must have been the sting ray cafe....we literally saw dozens of them...big and small!
So, starting from my couch with memories of the beach still fresh on my mind and sand still in my shoes I guess we will shove off tomorrow morning. Still not sure which road we are taking, just know we are heading west.

Las Cruces New Mexico

Well, we rolled into Las Cruces NM yesterday afternoon at my brothers - Les and sister in law's - Crys. My niece Shannon and her two kids Morgan (moe, moge) and Carter also came in - from Albuquerque....that is hard to spell...

We went to the farmers market this morning and then to a local resturant....yes, I had a chili relleno....a relleno burrito to be exact....and yes...it was so good!! We swam in the pool this afternoon and have generally been snacking around on home made hummus. Les is demonstrating his grilling expertise, smoking a ham and shannon just pulled a pound cake out of the oven. I will see ya'll in a week, most likely a bit larger than when we left. ...... I will upload some pics soon!!

Carlsbad New Mexico

Dennis and a strange crawfish Dennis and a horned lizard
Dennis paddling the Pecos
Julie paddling the Pecos...wait, is that her cell phone in her hand!!!!?

Yeah, it is! We are now at Lake Brantly, just north of Carlsbad. We spent the day yesterday in the Kayaks, paddling up the Pecos toward the dam until the current got to strong and then lazily paddling back down. It was a nice trip and we saw some cool birds and that weird red craw fish Dennis is hoping his friend Chris can identify...... we are at the Carlsbad Public library, catching up on life outside the tent. We are getting ready to head to the Wal-Mart .....which reminds me of somemore pics I want to share with you.....to purchase a sandwich to carry up to Carlsbad Caverns. Oh they have food up there but the cost........We did go up last night to watch the bats come out of the cave......could be up to 1 million!!! it is pretty incredible to watch those bats just swirl and swirl in counterclolckwise motion and then, take flight into the dusk.....that is how carslbad caverns was discovered....a young guy out riding his horse thought the hill was on fire...it does look like smoke as they ascend....he checked it out and found the hole and began investigating......hence the discovery of the caverns.....I have too tell you he was a brave fellow!

Those other pics.....of Rosewell NM....the whole town gets into the "ailen" thing........I will upload tomorrow as I did not bring in my camera....but I gotta tell you, it is a hoot!!

Tomorrow, off to my brothers in Las Cruces......a bed.....a real bed....we have tented 17 days straight....(ooops, one night in Gloretta-a distant memory.....)
However we are getting our reccomended daily allowance of Mexican Food! : )

Petrified Forest AZ/ Bottomless Lakes NM

Some pics from the Petrified forest, Lake Lyman Indian ruins, Pie O Neer resturant and Bottomless lakes!



Well, these are some various pics from the Petrified Forest and The Painted desert. It was cool and WINDY but we persevered and traipsed the trails.. Pretty cool seeing all those beautiful pieces of petrified wood and amazing to know that as much as is there, more has been carried off, both prior to the making of this area a nation park and unbelievably, since, as people continue to tote off pocket sized pieces. At left, dennis is examining pottery sherds found and left at an ancient Indian site. the "house" had 80 to 90 rooms and housed about 15 families. Being quite tired of the wind, we headed east to Bottomless Lakes near Rosewell, NM. On the way we stopped at the quaintest little roadside cafe.....in Pie ville, NM. Yes, they served pie.....oh there was peaches n cream (my choice) apple with a oatmeal yummy something streudle (dennis' choice) strawberry rhuebarb, blueberry, banana cream, coconut cream, Almond joy, and several more I cannot remember!! One lady owned the shop, she and another younger gal ran it......and yes, The Waitress was both of their favorite movie!!!! If you gals out there haven't seen it....grab a girlfriend, box of tissues and rent it....its good. Brought back memories of Colorado!

Eating pie at Pie-O-Neer resturant in Pie Ville, NM



So, here we are, paddling around in our yaks in Lake Lea, Bottomless Lakes, NM. We ran into Rosewell this afternoon to do a load of laundry and what do you know? Its a Wash, dry and WiFi!!! Don't ya love folks who are up with technology? Probably head off for Carlsbad tomorrow, maybe. Who knows? We are, after all, on the road!!

Thanks for the comments....this has been fun! Judy, I finished "the book"....yes, good, yes, i continue to dwell on the ending. By the way, I traded it in at the Pie O Neer resturant for another........I will pass it on to you! : ) Amanda,,,,,I try, really I do. the shorts, socks and boots thing. Well, it is just your dad! And Cheryl, I am at the laundry mat, what does that tell you? HA! Love to you all!

Lake Lyman, Arizona

Me and Dennis in the kayaks! One of the greatest things about being on the road is that you can pick any road you want to be on. When I last "blogged" I said we were going to Lake Powell, Utah. We decided instead to head south on into Arizona to a small lake (by Lake Sinclair standards) that we visited three years ago. It is a great little lake and we enjoyed a full day of kayaking yesterday. Around the shores, across the lake. It was really great and we love our kayaks!!! Dennis of course spotted a snake swimming in the water, waited until it hit land, jumped out of his kayak and nabbed it....really folks, it was amazing!!! That man can move when he wants to. Last night I think hurricane whatever blew in....our tent was laying on top of us and of course, it rained. This morning still VERY windy so we drove the 50 or so miles up the road to the Petrified Forest. Spent all day battling the wind but enjoyed the day picking around the petrified trees. It is a cool place. Dennis and I both agree.....our motto is SEE AMERICA! There is a lot of cool stuff out there!!! Tomorrow, we are again..on the road. We are making our way slowly east now.....over to Roswell NM, Bottomless Lakes. Hope to spend some more time in the 'yaks.....till then.
Special thanks to P & T, campground hosts here at lake Lyman for access to the internet via thier wireless........PS....if you click on the pics, they come up full page!

Moab, Utah III

double arch
Dennis deep in a rock crevasse

we walked to the very point of this, one mile straight up
EMe sitting on Delicate Arch

The spectacular Delicate Arch....yes that is us in the center

Well, I do not know if the text and pics will align, suffice it to say we spent the entire day yesterday and today, again in mountain goat mode. Yesterday we were at The Arches National Park all day. http://www.nps.gov/arch/
Look it up for more info......We were up and literally running again this morning to hike the 1.5 mile straight up hike to Delicate Arch. It was a BEAST to get to but so totally worth it....I hope the pictures can at least begin to convey the awesomeness of the arches we saw. After we completed the Delicate Arch hike (huff, puff) we rode the 25 miles up to Canyonlands to complete some of the hikes up there. Yes, we are exhausted!! And pretty overwhelmed. We have canyon-ed, arched, ahhhhed, ooooohed, stood speechless, laughed at ourselves, doubled over in attempts to catch our breath, I don't know what else these last 4 days here......I can say, if I ever see any more peanut butter and powerbars.......it will be too soon! That has been our breakfast and lunch for these days in the hills, mountains, arches, crevasses, rocks......And did you know we meet more folks from across the pond? A HUGE number of people in our campground and on all the trails are from Germany. You know me, I think I have to start a conversation with everyone, and I have been met with more than one blank stare and shrug. The real kicker was the guy showering in the ladies shower room tho! All I could see were two very long, hairy feet!!!! You can bet i hurried in and out of there. A fellow southerner, a gal from South (Souf) Carolina said, oh you know those Europians! haha!

We are off tomorrow, back on the road again, looking for a place to pitch the tent in the Lake Powell region. Hoping to air up those kyaks and do a little floating. Our tired, sore, aching, over worked muscles need the break!! (Translate: Dennis: I need some flat land!)

Till the next post...........

Moab, Utah II

Well, getting this blogging thing down is hard under the best of circumstances....doing it while swatting mosquitoes .......Anyway, Dead Horse Canyon is so named because of the number of well, dead horse remains found at the bottom. Seems long ago wild horses were corralled there and for some reason a number were at one time left and they,uh, perished,hence the name. Flowing through the canyon is the Colorado River. Or the Green river...They converge in Canyonlands, which is my next subject.



Here near Moab are three big 'attractions', if you will....Dead horse Canyon, which was on my must see list, The Arches, again on my must see list and Canyonlands, which, if given the option to choose, I would have skipped if I had to. I did not and I can not tell you what we would have missed. Really, I thought Canyonlands, sounds like Candyland....probably not going to be that interesting. Boy, was I wrong....Dennis and I spent an ENTIRE day being amazed, awed, moved to speachlessness, moved to tears over the beauty and expanse of this place. Words cannot cannot express this place......And we did not even see it all! We hiked, crawled, walked, tiptoed over boulders, up rocks, over crevasses....don't let him fool you folks, dennis is a mountain goat in disguise. I think I have finally found the thing that scares me senseless and makes him laugh, cliffs!!!!!














Tomorrow, The Arches and a dinner and night boat ride down the river....romantic eh?



This picture is for my hat hunters, Amanda and Carolyn....whatcha think....a bandanna and a ballcap!