Back at North Ranch

We are back at North Ranch in Congress, AZ for most of the winter. It is good to be off the road for awhile. We have several projects planned like landscaping our lot and turning our shed into a studio. Willard will be prospecting for gold and hopes to do some fishing. I hope to get my exercise through line-dancing and walking. I also plan on painting in oils and water color and doing some writing.

Hoover Dam Bridge Construction

We travel over Hoover Dam each year on our way to or from Congress, AZ. So we have been watching the construction of the new bridge for years. It should be completed by 2010. It is an amazing feat. It's the highest arch bridge in the world and the second longest. Yesterday, after going through an inspection process by the Home Land Security Officers, we moved slowly through the area and over the dam. These are some pictures I took out the motorhome window.

Heading Back to North Ranch

We got up early Friday morning and headed for North Ranch for the winter. It was a beautiful drive from Durango to Cedar City where we stopped on Saturday to visit with Dan's Family. Dan played music with a group in the city park while the kids played. We enjoyed the relaxing afternoon listening to the music and watching the kids. Afterwards we went back to Dan's apartment to eat Pizza and watch a football game on TV. Trevor spent the night with us and we left for Arizona the next morning.

It's good to be on the road again.

Durango, CO

We arrived in Durango, CO on Sunday Sept. 14 to attend the Alfa Roadrunner Campout at Alpen Rose RV Park located on the road to Silverton. There are about 20 members here. Most live in their Alfa motorhome full time. We met many of them at the Alfa National Rally in Montgomery, TX in April. We have had our meals together, visited, played mind games, had a campfire gathering, listened to and played music, and did some site seeing. This is a beautiful part of our country. Some went to Silverton on the train, but we didn't go since we have "been there and done that." They also had a golf game, but Willard pulled a muscle so didn't participate in that either. We went to Durango and toured the Railroad Museum. It was really interesting. Tonight we have a dinner at a restaurant up the canyon for our last activity. We will leave in the morning (Friday Sept 19) and head for Cedar City, UT for the weekend. On the way we plan on stopping off at Rudy and Paula's in Torrey, UT tomorrow night. (The first picture is of our campsite. The bottom picture is the view down the road in the park)

Visit to Hovenweep

This morning we decided to visit Hovenweep National Monument. It didn't look very far away from Cortez, Co. Needless to say 40 miles later we arrived at the park entrance. It was a nice drive in the back country. We didn't realize it would require a hike to see most of the ruins, so we didn't come prepared with hiking shoes, hats, sunscreen and water. Therefore, we just walked to the first lookout . The view was worth the journey. We could see some of the ruins.

You can go to http://www.jqjacobs.net/southwest/hovenweep.html to check out the ruins there. I didn't take any picures because I forgot my camera AGAIN! We got back to Cortez about 1:00 and had lunch. Since I was so tired after watching hurricane IKE envade Galveston most of the night, I tried to take a nap while Willard watched a football game on TV. I ended up reading. The weather is beautiful here this time of year. We turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows to let the cool gentle breeze flow through our motorhome. Life is good.

Stopped Off in Moab, UT

We stopped for a few days in Moab, UT. To get here we traveled through wind and rain, a real steering wheel gripper for a big rig driver. We arrived about 4:00 all safe and sound and glad to be off the road. As usual, in Utah the scenery out our front window is breathtaking. The weather is windy, sunny, and about 80 degrees.





It's interesting to note that this view of the La Sal Mountions to the east of Moab was in my car window each morning as I drove to work to Nucla, CO. When we lived in Redvale, CO about 30 years ago, we had a view of these beautiful mountains as the sunset embraced them each evening.

It's Good to Be On The Road Again

We left Blue Bucket August 23 headed northwest to Cheny, WA. That night we spent the night at Pendelton, OR, then on to Ponderosa Falls RV Park for a few days. Our destination for that week was to my brother's home in Missoula, MT. We parked in his driveway for a little over a week. It was a good visit: food, hot tub, food, shopping, yard sales, food, visiting, and just relaxing. The weather was cool nights and warm days. It began raining a few days before we left on Sept. 7. Last night we stayed over in Ft. Hall, ID. Now we are at Freightliner in Salt Lake City having our motorhome serviced (oil change, lubricate, change filters)before we head for Durango to a Roadrunner campout all next week. We entertain the group with our music on Sunday. We will meet Bill and Karen in the morning for breakfast before pulling out. It will be good to see them again.