Visiting Everyone in Texas

We stopped for a couple weeks in San Antonio , Texas for a long over due visit with family.

Dinner out with the ladies , my Mom and her friends , Shirley and Minnie.

Many thanks to Chris and Dan , sister-in–law and brother, for the good company and good smoked barbecue and home cooking!

We made good use of Dan and Chris’s front yard to get some more sealing finished. Red Letter Day! – May 17 – huge rainfall and no leaks!

It was great visiting  but Texas is getting way too hot – back on the road and heading north!
Early spring was pretty wet this year so Texas hill country is bursting with wild flowers.

New Mexico

 
  Spanish missions dot the countryside in New Mexico just as they do in other southwestern states which were once part of Mexico. Some of them are still in use today. Others , like this one , are in various degrees of ruin. The Indians here left because of a drought and raids by hungry Apache Indians. Other missions were destroyed after the Indians grew tired of forced labor and suppression of their traditional religions and rebelled in 1680, killing some of the Franciscan friars and settlers and forcing all of the others to flee to El Paso , Texas.  The Spanish reconquered New Mexico in 1692.

More pictures -http://cid-4ce32117b0082fb8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/New%20Mexico

Petrified Forest , Arizona

This place is really cool. The length ,diameter and number of logs scattered over such a large area makes it a unique treasure. Until 1906, when President Roosevelt set aside some of the land as a national monument , people were carting off so many rocks that it was in danger of disappearing. Now all the rock in the park is protected and some people think that there’s a curse on it! Every week the rangers receive a few packages in the mail with returned rocks and sometimes letters apologizing and explaining that nothing had gone right since the rock had been taken! We didn’t take any  – .  

  More pictures-http://cid-4ce32117b0082fb8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Petrified%20Forest

Grand Canyon

 
After we left Vegas we stopped at the Grand Canyon for a few days to spend some time with my sister and her family. Every year for the kids’ spring break they go on a trip and sometimes we are able to join them – a lot of fun! As you can see in the picture above ,  snow was still on the ground. Fortunately we had a couple of beautiful days but with snow back in the forecast , we decided to get off the mountain. Next stop-Petrified Forest!

More pictures here: http://cid-4ce32117b0082fb8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Grand%20Canyon

Goldfield , Nevada

We had very fast trip south through the high deserts of Oregon and Nevada and are settled in dry , sunny , warm Las Vegas for a few weeks of caulking and sealing.

Along the way we took a tour through Goldfield. We can’t resist ghost towns. It’s strange to see all of these big buildings deserted and crumbling.The town is right off the main highway and is not a complete ghost town but the houses are falling apart too so most of the residents live in trailers. With the price of gold today it looks like the population  is growing.

More pictures here:  http://cid-4ce32117b0082fb8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Goldfield%20%5EJ%20Nevada

Columbia River Gorge

This is the dry side of the gorge in eastern Washington. The population is sparse – fruit trees , cattle and wind turbines out number people but it’s  a beautiful place.

The gorge cuts through the Cascade mountains between Washington and Oregon. It was formed when the Glacier Lake Missoula ruptured  it’s ice dam and a huge wall of water rushed  down the corridor. This happened at least 25 times and formed the gorge which is 80 miles long and 4,000’ deep at some spots. Because of the width of the river and the steep walls of the gorge there are very few spots where the river can be crossed.

The salmon runs on the river supported local Indian tribes but dams to stop flooding , supply electricity and ample water for irrigating fields have destroyed some of the best fishing areas and wild water. The US government and Indian tribes are working to restore the salmon runs and at the same time support the needs of the communities.

More pictures here:  http://cid-4ce32117b0082fb8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Columbia%20River%20Gorge
 

On the Road Again!

 
We moved into the new motorhome two weeks ago and everything seems to working right. We still have some minor  finish work on the inside and we have to make sure all of the exterior is sealed. Our lawyer is sending a bill to Ken for the repairs. Ken probably will not pay without a fight but the lawyer doesn’t think that we have to stay around so we’re outta here!

Zingara and Scotty. We sold the Scotty to a young couple. They’re going to Alaska!
Side graphics  

Interior before we fixed things.                                

After –this is like a find the differences puzzle because the changes are small and don’t show well in the picture but they made it look so much better.