April - May 2013 CA to WA

From Arizona we drove to Southern California to check out Lazy Daze RV and Airstream trailers. At Knox Berry farm, I realized maybe I’m getting a bit too old to do these thrill rides. We backtracked to Joshua Tree NP and Palm Springs. A local shopkeeper helped us find Elvis’ Palm Springs House. We headed north through eastern CA and camped at Lone Pine. We visited the Rodgers Film Museum, which contained memorabilia from many of the western movies that were filmed in the area. We also toured the Manzanar NHS.  This was the site of one of ten internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII. The City of LA purchased the water rights to most of central eastern CA, and this had a devastating effect on the area. Mono Lake was practically drained until local action committees found a compromise with the City of LA. The lake is still recovering as its level slowly rises.

Further north in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lake Tahoe continues to be a gem. This is where advanced wastewater treatment was first implemented full scale. All waste discharge was treated and removed from the basin since the early 1970’s.  Back in 1928, Mrs. Lora Knight bought land next to Emerald Bay and then had a Nordic castle built on the property.  Her Vikingsholm is now a State Park.

Marilyn and Pat in Palm Springs

Lucy with Pat

Tufa towers in Mono Lake

Mono Lake

Vikingholm

Eagle Falls

Mt Shasta Dam, Lake and Mountain

Multnomah Falls

Chihuly Glass

Pat, Don, Cornelia and Tom

On April 15, our attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains was delayed by a snowstorm. We finally made it to Redding, CA and enjoyed exploring the area. We toured Mt. Shasta Dam and did some hikes at Whiskeytown NRA and Crags Castle SP. We found a great logging museum at Collier Memorial SP in OR. The Columbia River Gorge had numerous waterfalls, including the very picturesque Multnomah Falls. We spent a week with our friends Tom and Cornelia in Renton, WA. We found the Chihuly Garden and Glass show in Seattle outstanding.  We put our RV in storage and flew back to MD.

We spent a very busy week, rushing between Dr. appointments, visits with friends, trips to see family and getting ready for our trip to Switzerland. 

March 2013 AL-AZ Part 1

Red Headed Woodpecker

Don at Guadalupe MT NP

Yellow Poppy 

Saguaro Cactus

Lost Dutchman SP

Riders at Columbus NM

After leaving Florida, we spent a little time on the gulf shore of AL, before getting a good soaking in LA. This state always seems to be underwater or at best flooded. Almost everywhere else we went was dry. We detoured up to Ft Worth, TX to see Margaret’s son Michael. We enjoyed high winds (always fun in an RV), and blowing sand in West Texas and NM. Sometimes our visibility was dramatically reduced by the sandstorms. Fortunately, Pat likes cleaning sand from every nook and cranny of the RV. 

March 2013 AL-AZ Part 2

Steller's Jay

Titan II Missile

Desert Wildflowers

Lost Dutchman SP

Pat, Sue, Julie, & Tom

Montezuma Castle

We did some good hikes in the Guadalupe Mountains NP. The Butterfield Express ran though this area. It was the first successful attempt to link the East with the West with a reliable transportation and communication system. In NM we attended a parade of horse riders from Mexico and New Mexico commemorating Pancho Villa’s raid into Columbus, NM on March 9, 1916. This was the last time foreign troops attacked the continental United States. At Kartchner Caverns SP in AZ, we toured the cave and found out that it was outstanding for two reasons: 1) it was never vandalized, as most caves are before they are protected and 2) it is a living cave, i.e., the formations are still forming. The state went to considerable expense to prevent the cave from drying out, by isolating the moist inside environment from the very dry air outside. Nearby we visited the Titan Missile Museum. A deactivated missile stands in the silo. We went down into the silo to the launch room. The history of the Titan II Missile Program from 1963-1982 and the Cold War was explained. Some of you may remember those bombing drills in school, where you hid under your desk. Who knew those desks were bomb proof!

March 2013 AL-AZ Part 3

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Sedona at Sunset

Grand Canyon

Hedge Hog Cactus

We got a timeshare in Sedona, AZ for Easter week and Tom, Julie, and Susan flew out to join us. We had a beautiful week, the best week we had this year. We did several hikes around Sedona, and took a side trip to the Grand Canyon. We also visited the cliff dwellings of Montezuma Castle National Monument. These were built by the Sinagua people around 700 AD and abandoned about 1425. On Easter Sunday we drove to Kingman, AZ and had a wonderful Easter dinner with Phil and Connie.

March 2013 AL-AZ Part 4

Gamble's Quail

Fire Barrel Cactus

Beaver tail Cactus

Joshua Tree

Skull Rock

Jan-Feb 2013 Florida Part 1

Pat with wild Boar

Anhinga with dinner

Armadillo

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Bald Eagles

Jan-Feb 2013 Florida Part 2

After New Years, we started our trip south. Before we left the DC Metro area, we stopped at National Harbor to check it out and have lunch with Sherman. In Richmond, we enjoyed the American Civil War Center. When we got to Florida we had some work done on the RV, before attending a Born Free rally at the Tampa RV Super Show. We are starting the long, painful process of looking for a replacement RV. We teamed up with Rialta owners and friends Larry and Edi to inspect a few RVs. We are looking for an RV with a different bed arrangement. We went with our RV club to St Petersburg and toured the Chihuly Collection Museum, an amazing collection of glass art (even I was impressed).

Snowy Egret

Great Blue Heron

Manatee

Pat

Red headed Woodpecker

Tri-colored Heron

Brown Pelicans

White Squirrel

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Meddard Park