Feeling Hot Hot Hot

We were off early – before light – today from Vegas through Death Valley and on to Lake Isabella/ Kernville, Ca. We thought if we got the early start that it wouldn’t be hot as hell by the time we were crossing Death Valley – WRONG!

By the time we arrived at 8AM it was over 80 and at time in the low 90s as we travelled just over one hour through the park. We were at times below sea level and also crossed 2 mountain passes – the highest at 5096 feet. This is a desperate and desolate place that is lunar in appearance yet there are lodges and campsites for people to stay there! There was even a couple of knuckleheads riding a tandem through the park! Ay Yi Yi!

While the RV struggled going up hill it never got near overheating or anything scary like that. We were barely making 25 MPH a couple of times, but we did make it. Luckily, we filled the tank where cooler head prevailed at 3.72 per gallon where in Death Valley the cheaper of the two stations was 5.43 per gallon.

We arrived at the RV Park at just about 1 PM and had some lunch.

Tomorrow we head to Sequoia National Park. It is a fairly short drive and we hope to stay at a campsite in the park called Lodgepole. We were late getting a reservation so we will take our chances with the first come - first served.

The next day we will head into Kings Canyon National Park – less than an hour from Sequoia. We aren’t sure if we’ll stay there or go to Millerton State Park for a couple of nights before our date with Yosemite. We were able to get a site in Yosemite, but the earliest was the 4^th through the 6^th so we are filling  some time now.

If anyone is going to Vegas soon could you look around for us? We misplaced a couple of hundred bucks somewhere down there.

More soon…..

One In Two And Four In One

After leaving Zion we headed towards the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Along the way we stopped at Pipe Springs National Monument which is a historical Mormon site. We clicked a couple of pictures and got our National Park Passport stamped and kept moving to the North Rim.

Before we actually left Utah for Arizona we found a grocery store in a tiny town called the Farmers Market that had a nice selection of organics. We had been looking all over next to the parks and had very little luck, yet here we are next to nowhere and they have a nice variety – go figure.

We arrived at the North Rim in nice light for afternoon pictures and got in a little walk before backtracking to our campground north of the park. We got our laundry done and had a nice dinner before retiring for the night. The RV park was at 8000 feet of altitude so the overnight temperature was in the 30’s which was a little unexpected.

In the morning we headed for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Along the way we were able to see three more National Monuments – Vermillion Cliffs, Wupatki  and Sunset Crater.  Wupatki is Hopi ruins from circa 1100 AD – roughly the same age as Chichen Itza. Having seen a lot of Mayan ruins I have to say their level of sophistication is much better than the Hopi. The Maya did invent the idea of zero afterall.

Finally at the South Rim of Grand Canyon we were lucky enough to get a campsite at Mather campground in the Park and were able to get some afternoon and sunset shots of the canyon.

Bright and early we headed out to Las Vegas taking Route 66 for a good stretch. There are still many bits of wisdom from a long defunct company dotting the sides of the road on Route 66.

We made a quick stop at Whole Foods and on to the Sam’s Town RV Park for a two night stay before heading through Death Valley and on to Lake Isabella in California tomorrow. It has been near 100 degrees yesterday and today, but it does get down to the low 70’s at night.

More soon …..

Zion Another Pretty Place

We are on pretty place overload at this point. We arrived at Zion National Park on Saturday just after noon after travelling just a short distance from Bryce Canyon. We had originally wanted to go through Cedar Breaks National Monument but there was a music festival in The Zion area and we had to make our way to the RV park for “first come first served” space.

We were up before light and took the first shuttle from town “the Express” that picked us up from literally in front of the RV park at 6:40 and drove us up through Zion to the trailhead for our chosen hike “The Narrows” which is a riverwalk. We were a little under prepared for the amount of river we were walking in – the depth I mean. We balked about 1.5 miles in when we would have to wade chest high for me – neck high for Pam and made our way back to the shuttle stop for a short ride to our second choice hike “Angels Landing.”

Remember back to the Grand Staircase post when I talked about driving across a hogsback and that it was scary. OK I was a whimp then. This hike had a hogsback that you had to hike across and the a bunch of chain guardrail switchbacks up a ridge to a thin mesa “Angels’ Landing.”

 

The hike was not physically difficult at 5.2 miles round trip and a 1440 ft elevation gain, but the mental part and the waiting for up climbing hikers on the way down made it harder than it had to be. There are some great pictures of both hikes and here is a sampling. We will do a picture post the next time we have a good WIFI connection.

We headed to the North rim of The Grand Canyon today and stopped at Pip Springs National Monument. Tomorrow we see Vermilion Cliffs national Monument and Wupatki National Monument and end up at the South Rim of The Grand Canyon.

More soon….

Grand Staircase and Bryce Canyon - Eye Candy!

When we last spoke we were by Capitol Reef. Between Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon is The Grand Staircase National Monument. This bad boy is half of Utah! There is one spot where they fashioned a two lane road that crosses a hogsback that is very scary - and Pam let me drive that day! Now you're all scared.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon in time to get a campsite in the park at the North Campground. That was cool because the hike we had planned for this morning started and ended right next to the campground so we didn't have to bother Athena - The Regal Beast - anymore than necessary.

Our hike was a little over 8.5 miles - The Fairyland Loop. If you go to Bryce you must do this hike! We were done in around 3.5 hours.

On arrival in Bryce we took Athena for a second walk as she had a 1.5 miler in the morning. This walk was 4.22 miles from the campground to Inspiration Point and back where she added two fans to her long list of "peeps."

Pam and I then took the shuttle to Bryce point and walked the rim trail back to the campground. All in all we walked 9.25 miles. Not bad for a day off from hiking.

Once again I will let the pics speak for themselves. We were in Zion for a couple of days so make sure your eyes aren't too tired as there will be more to gawk at soon. We have been fighting slow picture upload which is just slightly better than diphtheria so we may get Zion up today as our connection seems good.

More soon......

Four Sites, Three Parks, Two Days - Whew!

No post yesterday as we were out of every kind of range. No WIFI, no 3G, no nuttin. Tonight we find ourselves just outside of Capitol Reef National Park. In the last two days we have hiked both the Island in the Sky and the Needles area of Canyonlands National Park. We have also visited Natural Arches National Monument and Capitol Reef. We drove through Glen Canyon National recreation Area and Lake Powell as well - OK we crossed a portion on a bridge.

Canyonlands is really fantastic! It is right across Hwy 191 from Arches National Park and yet it has it's own character. There are some arches, but the massive canyons are what rules there. We did three trails at Island in the Sky totalling 7.25 miles and one trail at Needles of 7.5 miles.

Natural Arches and Capitol Reef we drove through and stopped for highlights. We have a ton of pictures to share and they tell the story better than I can.

Our Site at Needles Outpost

Sunset From Needles Outpost

Look close. You'll see the Natural Bridge.

More soon....

A Walk In The Park - Arches National Park

OK. Arches National Park is really cool and different from any other landscape  we’ve seen. The colors are great and it is rock formation after rock formation.

We headed into the park before sunrise so we could get the soft morning light and we ended up with that and so much more. We were greeted at the trailhead by deer who meandered by us later as well. It’s not hard to spot the protected wildlife.

Our goal was to hike the Devil’s Garden/ Primitive loop. There are arch after arch and hoodoo after hoodoo. The trail required you – once you were off the groomed part- to seek the next stack of small rocks which were the trail markers. What a gas! We were treated by a trail that was walking along the top of huge boulders at times.

I promise we’ll post more pictures when we get to a good WIFI spot. The 3G tethering to the phone is slow like dial-up only I think it costs more. Here is a representative batch for today including Athena being as patient as she is capable of being.

More soon….

Day Two Driving

Today we travelled from Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho to Arch View RV Park just outside of Arches National Park in Utah. The drive was mixed, but there were some very pretty parts and some weird stuff too.

 We have now driven 1092 miles and, luckily, we don’t have any big mile driving days for a long while. I guess we knew this place was fantastic or we wouldn’t have come here, but it really is pretty.

We weren’t able to stay at Devil’s Garden in Arches for the next 2 nights as they are still booked out, but we’re slummin’ it with full hookups (water, electric and sewer) and a tiny view.

I plan to bring you much better shots of great stuff tomorrow after we hike in the park. Yes! Finally we get to hike and not drive all damn day!  Our hike tomorrow takes us through many of the better formations at Arches.

Athena will likely be the happiest that we aren’t doing a long drive tomorrow or anytime real soon. She is done with the shaking and rattling that goes on as we motor down the road. I have designated a “drooliform” since I don’t need dog spit on all of my clothes.

More soon…

Day 1.5 Underway!

So we cheated a little because it was raining in Tacoma. We took off at 5:30 Saturday and made it to Silver Beach RV resort just over White Pass - 8 miles past. We arrived there at 9:15 and had a sip or 2 of wine and then passed out.

Sunday morning we headed off before 8. Our original goal was to stay at Farewell Bend State Park in Oregon, but it was before 1 PM when we were near there so we kept moving.

A stop near Boise at the Sierra Trading Post outlet store netted some boot laces for me, a bug off shirt and some liner gloves for Pam, and a snazzy liner jacket for Athena. I think I got jipped on that deal!

We headed from there to Glenn's Ferry Idaho and the Trail Break RV park for the night. So far we have booked 609.5 miles. That doesn't seem like a lot, but in the RV it is harder miles for sure.

Miss Athena was jacked up and ready to go, and woke this morning very much the same. Her problem is that she refuses to sleep while we are moving choosing instead to climb across my lap and drool.

It isn't very comfortable for either of us, and sooner or later the exhaustion WILL catch up with her. We are hoping for her to find a balance between sleep and bugging me. Hey, a boy can dream, right?

More soon....

Green Tomato Chicken Chili

As we get ready to head out for 5 weeks - I know 5 weeks- our tomatoes are coming ripe, but they won't all make it to the point where we can ripen them in the RV.  We have people coming over Saturday for a late lunch so I decided to make some Green Tomato Chicken Chili for the event. Here's what I did.

Ingredients:

Green Tomatoes - I used about 6 cups chopped small
Red Onion - I used one large onion
Chicken Thighs - I used 8 Organic thighs I took off the skin but started with the bones in.
Pinto Beans - I used 16 oz (dry) soaked overnight and rinsed
Garlic - I used 3 large cloves
Chilis - I used 4 small Aneheims and 2 jalapenos chopped fine after seeding
Chicken Stock - I used one box of Organic, Free Range Chicken Stock
Salt
Pepper
Chili Powder
Cumin
Olive Oil

Put 2-4 Tbsp of olive oil in a soup pot and add chopped red onion. Salt and pepper the onions and cook one minute on high then add the chicken thighs. HERE'S THE TRICK - Don't mess with the onions much while the chicken in cooking. It will add fat as it cooks off and the onions will get very well caramelized - they will almost look burnt. DON'T USE NO-STICK PANS for this. You want the onions to form a dark crust on the pan.

Turn the chicken every 2 minutes for 10 minutes. Pull out chicken and allow to cool until you can handle it. Meanwhile add a cup of the chicken stock and work the brown bits on the bottom of the pot loose. Add the tomatoes and chilis and cook down for 5 or 6 minutes. Add the garlic and beans and cook for a minute or 2 and then add the remaining chicken stock and season with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder to taste.

Take the bones out of the thighs and chop to small pieces and add to the mix. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 1 or more hours until beans are where YOU want them. I like mine a little firmer than most folks so I was done in 1 1/2 hours.

You could just as easily use red tomatoes for this - just reduce the cooking time as they are softer to begin with. I used all organic ingredients, and my chili powder is homemade and 100% chilis with no salt or anything added. If you are normal and don't make your own chili powder you will likely want to use less cumin and salt as there is both in the powder.

This recipe makes 2/3 of a large soup pot of chili.

The RV is packed already and I am very bored and severely short-timing it now. Our plan is to try to post every day while we're gone. We will do our best to share the best pictures daily.

More soon.....

New Rules For What Comes Next

So, we are just a few days away from our big National Park RV trip. I have been busily packing and freezing and cooking and freezing and making some comfort modifications to the rig and ENOUGH ALL READY! Can't we just go now?

I think they call this short timers disease. Sunday is the big day. That leaves just Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I think I'll make it. It should give our tomatoes time to ripen enough to make some more for sauce and whatever later. I just blanch them in boiling water with a small X cut in the end and take the skin off. Then I cut them in chunks and add fresh basil leaves then vacuum seal and freeze them.

If the green ones can just begin turning, I can take them and allow them to ripen in the RV and prepare them in the same way. We decided on taking the rice steamer and the vacuum sealer with us so it won't be a big deal, but this cloudier weather may force us into green tomato chili instead. We'll see.

This week I made a ton of Hummus, some al dente black beans and pesto. Since we have been hording and freezing organic berries for a while we have plenty of them as well.

About the modifications, we decided that we would make the table area a daybed seating spot instead. We have tv trays so we can still eat there, but because it is just behind the driver seat we hop Athena might take to it while we are driving instead of her needing to be across my lap in the passenger seat. Oh please oh please!

We also picked up a 19 in LCD TV and a DVD player in case we get rained out or whatever. It will also allow us to potentially check local news for weather, etc for our hikes. It is little and we do just have the one. We saw one with 4 TVs in it. Really! 4!

We have added some shelves in one cabinet and found some "totes" that fit in the upper storage areas in back so I can organize my clothes up there. The shelves will allow Pam to do the same there.

I found some information on the Internet about quieting the water pump for when you aren't hooked up to water, and that worked nicely. I also added a whole house filter setup for both water hookups and for filling our holding tank. We added a Pur system on the kitchen water as well for drinking water.

Lots of elastic strap has made the bathroom cabinet more useful as well as the coffee urn more secure, and Velcro has been added for the window covers, remotes, kitchen timer, etc to keep things where they belong.

We elected not to add a breezeway room to the awning for mosquito protection while we are outdoors, but we brought a net with us that we can use in a pinch.

Some cabinet door "locks" were added to keep them shut while in motion. Other than the memory foam topper we added to the mattress, that's it for our modifications since the last trip.

We will do our best to post some pictures every day or so. We are going to be in some pretty spectacular places to take photos so I'll try to do my best. We'll also try to detail our activities as well.

More soon.....

Will Power - A Problematic Catch-22

Will power is defined as the strength of will to carry out one's decisions, wishes, or plans. Pretty straight forward right?

I don't get it or like the implications of it. Here's why. It's just an excuse to not actually decide to do something. "I was doing so good not smoking, but then I lost my will power." That is CRAP! This is how it should be stated "I never decided to really quit smoking anyway so when I failed I figured I'd blame it on will power."

I have to quote Yoda again when he says to Luke "There is no try. Do or do not." Next time you think about blaming will power just admit that you weren't really committed enough to the task to avoid tripping over yourself.

The thing about change is that it IS CHANGE. It's not that hard to get this concept. If you TRY to stop eating french fries you have already failed. If you don't want to eat fries don't. I realize this is a higher level of responsibility than many are used to, but that, itself, is a change that is worthy as well. When things go sideways, like they seem to want to do, own your failures and learn from them.

No one makes us do anything we don't choose to do. Even when people mean well and try they can't make changes for you. Pam was a trooper for years. She would fill me in on the plans to hike this and climb that and I would make an excuse why I didn't want to attend. I had to choose for me. I am glad she kept trying and even more glad that she didn't nag me to do stuff. Ladies - men hate nagging. We tend to do the exact opposite of what is suggested in the nagging instead. Just sayin'.

The one person you can't fool is yourself. You know going into stuff where your commitment level is. All I'm suggesting - not nagging- is that you take a stronger stand. Tell yourself that you are worth the trouble and commit to the change. And if and when you fall down learn from it and move forward with even more resolve. I was taught when I was learning to play bass that there are no mistakes - just bad improvisation.

So here's to banishing Will Power from our vocabulary. I think it is much more destructive than the R word that so many want banned as well.

More soon.....

A Quick Hike And A Quick Festival

Pam and I blasted up Eagle Peak in 1:45 - 3.5 miles one way, had second breakfast, took some pictures and descended back to our car. We were cleaned up and changed and heading to the Mount Rainier Festival in Ashford in less than 4 hours from our arrival.

Here are some of the pictures.

You can see the effect that the fire down by Hwy 97 has on Mt St Helens and Mt Adams, but the wildflowers were still in bloom and it was a super nice day. Pam was playing with her new - bullet proof- camera. Her most recent one died on the Ozette Triangle trip.

The Mountain Festival was great as we were able to get a nice grilled chicken sandwich with  salad and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for our efforts while listening to some bluegrass.

That was the last hike here before we head off to Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon and back to Washington for 5 weeks of hiking, biking, walking and camping in the Athenian - that's what we decided to name the RV.

If we get lucky most of our tomatoes will ripen this week so I can blanch the skins off, chop them up and vacuum seal them with a couple of basil leaves and then freeze them for later use. Right now it looks 50-50.

More soon......