Canyonland National Park

Canyonlands National Park is about 30 miles north of Moab UT and is an entirely different, but no less dramatic and beautiful landscape then Arches NP!  When the sea drained it was flat level plain for as far as the eye cold see.  But there were 3 distinct layers under that level landscape! As the area weathered over the millennia 3 different and distinct levels formed that are very evident today.  The top part is the hardest rocks and is the level we were on.  About 1000 ft. below is was the next level that is a vast plain with deep gouges in it.  Those gouges were worn in by water and flowing across the land and at the bottom of theme is streams and also the Colorado River in the biggest and deepest gouge/gorge!

An overview looking down on the next level with the gorges carved in it!

The Colorado River winding thru the bottom of the landscape!

Another view showing the levels!

The winding road up to the top level!

These two buttes were named over a  100 years ago the Monitor and the Merrimack!

 Always at home no matter where we are!      

Arches National Park in Moab UT

We spent 3 beautiful days in Moab UT after the beautiful drive through Monument Valley!   Moab is home to two national parks (Arches & Canyonlands) and one equally beautiful state park (Dead Horse).  Individually and collectively they are all magnificent, beautiful examples of the western terrain.  They also are a tribute to early pioneers who insured they were preserved for us to all enjoy.  Let's hope our descendants can say the same for us 100 years from now!

The road to Moab from Monument Valley is just more dazzling sights, one after the other.  Once in Moab we had a little confusion as to where our campground was.  Due to some phone number confusion we were talking to one RV park getting directions to it and looking for another completely different park.  Eventually we got it all worked out and got parked in a nice park on the south side of town.

The next day we headed out to Arches National Park which is immediately north of town, just over the Colorado River.  It had a 15+ mile loop road that took you to many beautiful geologically beautiful sights!  This whole area was the once the bottom of a huge salt water sea.  As the sea drained and subsequent weather events occurred the land was worn and washed away with the harder, more durable parts remaining and softer materials being wash away and Arches continues to be affected by the weather. 

One of many arches!

And another!

A dual arch!

A favorite gathering place!

There were many other impressive structures in Arches NP besides the arches.   

Balanced for the ages!

Another balancing act!

A spire!

My sister's dogs, Chloe & TD were always good travelling companions !

And could be an attraction themselves!

Three wise man formation

And a baby arch that will grow up in a dozen centuries or so to a big arch!

Always at home no matter where we are!

Monument Valley

I have heard of Monument Valley before in NE AZ and SE UT, but no matter what you have heard or seen about it visiting it in person makes all other info pale in comparison.  We were headed to Moab UT about 100 miles past Monument Valley and just happened to take the road through the valley.  It was a narrow two lane road with narrow to no shoulders; at some places the only thing between the road and abyss below was a 6-8 inch thick concrete wall!  Don't know how good it would have been in stopping an RV from taking the plunge!

Most of Monument Valley is Navaho Indian Reservation and there is a visitor center shortly after you enter the valley, but we did not stop because we were not expecting much!  WOW – talk about a major mistake!  As we drove through the valley we were greeted by one monumental natural structure after another.  Many times we were looking a multiple ones on the landscape, all just visually spectacular. 

One of many spires!

A plateau

A basalt wall raising suddenly from the desert floor!

Another massive uplift in the middle of the desert!

This was named Mexican Hat and was near a town of same name!

Remember as you look at these that the pics don't really do it justice!  We will drive back thru Monument Valley at some future point and stop to learn more and see more next time!!  A beautiful place in the beautiful West!  BTW - it was the background in many of the old Western movies since the early days of movie making!  John Wayne loved the area and made a number of movies here!


Always at home no matter where we are!

Ready to Hit the Road Again

We left beautiful Patagonia AZ and moved up to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson to await the arrival of my sister and brother-in-law from FL in their RV.  They are planning on traveling with us some this summer.  Davis-Monthan AFB has a great Famcamp and we enjoy our stays there.  Spots are well spaced and management is consistent in implementing the rules and always friendly and helpful.  No wonder they win awards every year!

Also at Davis-Monthan is a well arranged and maintained air park with warbirds on display from bygone years. I frequently walk through the airpark on my daily walk and enjoy it every time.  Of course seeing warbirds I worked on being classified as "heritage" makes me wonder what I am!!

Whenever I see a B-52 I always send a pic to Frank Beck my AF buddy to verify it is one of his girl friends that he flew.  He always likes to know their status and reports back when and where he flew with her.

#0659 one of Frank's girlfriends

Undergoing some routine maintenance in Mar 2012

I enjoyed visiting with her and updating her on Frank's current location and status when ever we are at Davis Monthan.  In Nov 2011 she was doing great, in March when I first saw her from afar she didn't quite look right, but when I got close I determined she was undergoing some routine maintanance and her tall tail was laying on the ground - no wonder she didn't look "right" from afar.  Her tall distinctive tail was laying on the ground!  How demoralizing can that be

A tailless #0659!!

Well when we returned to Davis-Monthan in late May I found she had been abducted! Gone! All traces of her beautiful body were removed probably by some nefarious crew working under covert conditions.  I reported it to Frank and he took appropriate actions.  We will get to the bottom of this crime!

#0659's former place of honor - even her name has been stripped from the plague!

Here are some of her friends that are mourning her loss, but proudly carry on the tradition of warbirds on display!

F-4 proudly displaying the stars of MIG's she shot down!

F-105, a workhorse over North Vietnam

A-10, the dreaded tank killer of  desert combat

C-130, it just keeps on hauling!

OV-10, a FAC of Vietnam era

So Marla & Al arrived and we spent  a few days wrapping up affairs at Davis-Monthan and we hit the road headed north.  Our first night was going to be in Flagstaff and then on to Moab, UT to see Arches and Canyonland National Parks.

The family caravan formed up behind the Wagon Mistresses, BJ & Marla. 

Always at home, no matter where we are!!

A New RV!

You may have heard we were contemplating a new RV this year!  Well we found one that, while not perfect, has some nice features!  See pic below as BJ was admiring it!  Note it has residential style refrigerator, non-stacked washer and dryer.  And look at the storage space in the china cabinet!  And, have you ever seen such magnificent windows!  Note the comfortable lounge chair and all the prebuilt storage space for other stuff!  And, lots of padding for when we are moving down the road. 

A minor problem is the lack of wheels or motor, steering would be problematic also!

 

Always at home no matter where we are!!

So Many Views and so Few Eyes!!

Well our time in Patagonia and SE AZ are coming to an end.  We are now trying to rush in all those things we wanted to do but have not done YET!  We have been truly blessed by this opportunity at the Patagonia-Sonita Creek Preserve!  BJ has become an accomplished entry level birder and has really developed a love for it.  I have enjoyed some fantastic off-roading in our Jeep that has taken us to some beautiful locations with memorable views.

The Patagonia Mountains soar over the town of Patagonia and Red Mountain is, at 6300 feet, about 2100 feet above the town and the major peak in the majestic range to the south.  

Red Mountain Foods with Red Mt behind it!

From top of Red Mt looking down on Red Mt Foods and rest of Patagonia!

To the northeast, the Santa Rita mountains dominate the region with Mt Wrightson at nearly 10,000 feet.  Mt Hopkins is just about as tall and has an observatory with three different telescopes on top plus a geocache I will have to get next time we are here!!

Mt Wrightson in the Santa Ritas!

Santa Rita mountains in background

We drove thru Box Canyon to the north side of the Santa Ritas one day.  Box Canyon Road was a gravel road carved into the side of the mountain.  On one side you had a cliff raising above you and on the other side a cliff dropped away to the creek about 300 feet below.  The alternate route going around the west end of the Santa Ritas was nearly twice as far, approximately 70 miles rather then nearly 40 miles to Madeira Canyon and was not nearly as scenic!

Box Canyon Road

More Box Canyon Road

Box Canyon at night - only those reflictors between you and the bottom!

On the other side of the Santa Ritas was Florida Canyon and Florida Workcamp.  Except I have learned while out here that all my life I have been mispronouncing my home state – it is pronounced FLO-REE-DA.  Duh, who woulda known!  The Florida Trail climbs thru Florida Canyon by MT Wrightson and eventually to Madera Canyon which is an especially beautiful canyon that we visited several times and will do again when we return to SE AZ.

That is pronounced FLO-REE-DA 

Well marked trail.

We hiked up the Florida Trail for aways, BJ was looking for birds and I was just looking for views.  Green Valley was out in front of us and on the other side was I-19 that runs between Tucson and Nogales.

We got excited when we saw a large body of water on the other side of the valley and I-19.  We were envisioning a great rec area and some kayaking opportunities.  We wondered why we had not heard of this apparently large  

lake.  Well we eventually found out it was water from a mining operation and was not open or safe for use.  Apparently remediation of the problem is under way for some undetermined amount of time! 

The view of Green Valley from about half way up the Florida Trail. 

Of course we have bird pictures on top of bird pictures.  BJ has become a real birder while we have been here.  She has i-bird loaded on her i-phone to help her identify birds by their songs, She has books and lists and pictures and descriptions and great fun with bird searching!  If any visiting birders ask me too much I tell them I am a parrot – I can repeat what I have heard but don't ask me any questions and I refer them to BJ.

A hawk on her nest!

The Vermilion Flycatcher can be spotted easily with its bright red colors and black mask!

Our 3 month tour ends next week and we are looking forward to resuming our travels but our time here has been some of the best since we hit the road.  We will definitely return to AZ and most certainly to SE AZ!  It is a magical place full of beauty and dramatic views. 

We may even buy a place to stop and spend some time if we decide to slow down on the travelling!

A fixer upper for us - just need to add a carport for the RV!

A Day on the Water (At Last)

It has been 2 Dec of last year since we have had the kayaks in the water!  Since arriving here at Patagonia we have been wanting to get to Patagonia Lake State Park about 6 miles west of us to do some paddling.  Finally we thought the weather matrix was aligned for us, it was our day off, it was warm, and no crowds at the popular state park.  We loaded the kayaks back on the Hullavators and headed to the lake.  The boat ramp was empty, the sky was clear and the sun was shinning warmly on us!  (We ignored the chilly water, as we were not planning on being in it on this day!)

The launch ramp at Patagonia Lk State Prk

We dropped the kayaks in the water, moved the Jeep to parking and headed out of the cove where the boat ramp was!


Patagonia Lake is not a large lake but is longer then it is wide!  From the dam it looks like a "Y" with two "legs" breaking off from the main body of water. The lake was formed in the 1950's when Sonoita Creek was dammed up to create a recreation area.  The shoreline was formed as the dammed up creek filled two canyons behind the dam.  That made for some interesting shoreline scenes.  The canyon walls dropped directly into the water most of the way around the lake.  Plants and cactus grew right up to the waterline!  

Shoreline

There was some beach at the far end of the lake away from the dam, but that was about all.  Water sports like boating and fishing, skiiing were popular as was kayaking.  We saw another couple kayaking and I expect as the weather warms, and especially on the weekends, it will be more crowded then we saw it on a Tuesday.





  

More shoreline!

BJ on the water!

We paddled west toward the dam enjoying the kayaks, the sun, and the views.  At the dam which is a very simple affair we met some other water lovers that were hanging out around the dam enjoying a day at the lake.

My kayaking buddy!

Some more fun guys at the dam!

He is thirsty!

So after about an hour on the water the wind suddenly picked up gusting hard from the west!  I had to paddle hard to get back to the cove where the boat ramp was and BJ had been in the other leg and was being driven by the wind againest the bank rather then in the direction of the cove.

However, we both made it back and we loaded the kayaks and headed back to the RV.  Despite the rough ending we enjoyed our time on the water.


Always at home, no matter where we are!!