29 April ‘08

Monday

Well it’s time to do a little shopping…this morning, following breakfast, we headed over to St. George for a visit to Wal-Mart and Costco.  It wasn’t that we needed so much but for the coming week to 10 days, we’ll be away from the closeness of these two stores and we just didn’t want to fall short. 

When we got back, we joined Bob and Laurie for a great paddle on one of the local reservoirs.

  With the weather holding to “PERFECT”, we just couldn’t pass it up.  Tonight, as well as last Saturday night, Louise joined with a group from the campground for a night of Texas Holdem…she had a good time, but not a winner, damn.  Now on the other hand, Bob came home with $35 for coming in 3^rd. 

Well it’s time again to move on…we’re heading to Bryce Canyon National Park.  The weather report doesn’t look good.  Today it’s supposed to be in the low 70’s but Wednesday drops to the mid 50’s with the night temp at 16…BRRRRRR….

27 April ‘08

Sunday

I forgot to tell you about yesterday’s cinnamon rolls.  When we checked into this campground, we received the usual list of “what’s happening in the park”.  Listed on that list was the Saturday morning cinnamon rolls that “are the best you have ever tasted, and you had better come early as they sell out”… Seeing as how we had checked in last Saturday AFTERNOON, I didn’t have a chance to get mine, so I had to wait for AWHOLE week.  Well yesterday morning finally arrived and I was one of the first to get into the line (well, I didn’t want them to sell out…).  Remembering how good these cinnamon rolls are supposed to be, I bought 3…one for now, one for Louise (knowing darn well she is on a diet and would pass) and one for tomorrow’s coffee.  Now I’ve paid my $3, have them in my hand, and heading home to my patio and my fresh cup of coffee.  I can just taste that treat I’m about ready to enjoy….ya right !!!  Without a doubt, these cinnamon rolls are the worst pieces of pastry that I’ve ever put my mouth around !!!  Oh well, lesson learned. 

After breakfast this morning, Louise and I decided to hike into the Red Hills, those red hills that rise across the valley from us.  Last week we walked over there and did some hiking, but this time we drove to the base of the hill and started there.  After paying our $1 fee, we checked out the different trails and decided to take the one that ran up one of the canyons.  About the first mile we were walking the red sands of the area, and when we rounded the first bend, we found we would hike on shear rock that lined both sides of a stream.  This was really a beautiful scene and we were just about the only hikers around.  A little bit up stream we did come across another couple and being Sunday we just knew we would see a lot more soon.  At one point, we got to where the water and the steep walls came together.  The only way around to the other side was to slide your belly up close to one of the large rock slabs, put your foot into one of the many foot holds that were dug out of solid rock, and grab a hold of a knotted rope. 

 This rope was anchored at the top of the rock, and was long enough to swing completely around to the other side.  In getting around to the other side we found that the stream went around and through another canyon.  A second choice was a hiking trail that would lead us up and into a second canyon.  After about the first 100 yards, we found ourselves climbing through and over rocks that took us to a wonderful overlook.

  Actually, this “overlook” was a good stopping area.  It gave us a good place to enjoy the canyons far below and contemplate what path would take us back down safely.

We made it down just fine, but picked up some red dust on the bottom of our shorts in doing it.  After reaching the bottom we decided to hike up the second canyon.  In doing that we found that we would either have to wear our hiking shoes in the stream or go bare foot as the walls of the canyon were too steep to allow us to walk around.

  I did take my walking sticks with me for balance, but I also found them handy to measure the depth of the water.  About 75 yards into our walk in the water we found a deeper hole that made us either get out on a sloping wall or go swimming…we chose to try the sloping wall bare footed…not a good idea.  It’s been a long time for my poor ole bare feet to have been put to this kind of torture so we made our turn-around and headed home.  We had a great hike and I guarantee you, we’ll feel it for a few days.  Tomorrow we will be joining Bob and Laurie on the water…one more kayak outing before we head off to Bryce Canyon National Park on Tuesday. 

25 April ‘08

Friday

Last Friday we pulled into Hurricane, Utah after a great drive through desert, valleys, and some wonderful mountains that took us up to 7,800 feet.  We found ourselves driving through a large area of tall Pine while in the mountains, something we haven’t seen for quite some time.  Coming out of the mountains we found ourselves driving down a 6% grade and the final altitude of 3,400 feet.  About 3 miles before coming out of the pass, we started to see a sign that warned us of a “Stop Sign and SCHOOL” at the bottom of the hill….”30 MPH Maximum”…  “What a hell of a place to put a school…” It wasn’t until we finally got to the bottom (and we still had our brakes), that we saw the school.  Fortunately it was still 3 long blocks away after the STOP SIGN, which makes much more sense.  Now we’re in Hurricane and on our way to our campground.  Western Horizons St. George is located about 5 miles west of Hurricane in a now extinct, but historical, town of Harrisburg.  Harrisburg was a silver mining area but now, a “Ghost town”.  Just around the corner we’ve got 2 reservoirs to kayak and the Red Mountains to hike in…which we’ve done, and 25 miles east we have Zion National Park and Zion Kolob.  On Tuesday Bob and Laurie joined Louise and me for a day in Zion NP.

  On our drive up to Zion,   we came upon a beautiful little town called Springdale.  At the end of town, we were attracted to a “tourist” attraction…this beautifully built store that was nestled into an apple orchard and just said something to me…COME IN!!!  I like being the driver…  We pulled in to have a cup of coffee and to see if there might be a treat for us as well.  Yep, there was, lots of them but we decided on a Raisin Oatmeal cookie and a guarantee that we would be coming back at the end of our day in Zion.  You see, they make their own Italian Gelato… Continuing our drive into Zion, we found that we had to park our car and take a shuttle bus.  The shuttle buses travel an 8 mile loop that takes you into the most popular areas of the park.

  We first took the shuttle all the way to the end of the loop to see the sights and get the lay-out of the park before returning to the lodge.  At the lodge, we again take another shuttle and head off for our first hike of the day…Emerald Pools.  We did two hikes to two different pools at Emerald and found not only the golden colored pools but some spectacular waterfalls as well.

  Having taken our lunch with us, we found a flat rock under one of the falls and beside the larger of the two pools. Settling down in the rays of the sun, the water, and the splash of the falls, we enjoyed our home-made meal. 

 Back to the next shuttle and onto our next hike…Weeping Rock.   Weeping Rock was a short hike up to a large rock alcove with hanging gardens.  Although it was a shorter hike, it was worth the stop and exercise to get to it.  Now you can see why we waited to get our Gelato…we need the nourishment for the drive home (or back to camp).  The next day the four of us was off to Kolob.  Kolob is at another entrance of Zion NP and offers a lot more options to hike.  By the time we arrived at the visitor center, we found that it was much cooler than any of us had anticipated.  But, now that we are “here”, we will not be deterred.  Our planned hike was about a 4 mile round trip that would take us up and through a canyon and cross over a small stream, back and forth over 60 times each way.  On top of that, we were constantly climbing up the river bank to reach the next spot to which we dropped down into the river again…lots of good exercise today. 

 Thursday Louise and I decided to take a hike into the Red Mountains, which just happen to be across a small valley from the campground.  Grabbing our hiking sticks and our backpack, we hiked out.  Our hike took just over 3 hours but could have been done in 2.  Louise wanted to take a “short-cut” through the valley. Well we knew there was a small river we would have to cross, and maybe a couple of small crevices we would have to go down into and back up from, but we were ready for this small challenge.  We came across an archeological dig that turned out to be an Anasazi occupation.  There was a small placard there that gave us a little information about the site and the approximate timing of the site…600-1000 AD.  Now to find our way out…we had to back-track and go out the same way we hiked in.  Well, it could have been done, but I just didn’t want to push our way through some deep brush and cactus and a possible hidden snake just to find out.

18 April ‘08

Friday

This morning we pulled out of the campground early so that we could stop for fuel and a stop at the lumber yard to pick up a piece of oak paneling.  We had it cut to fit the opening, but unfortunately it was unfinished so I’ve got another project to finish soon.  This paneling was to cover the area that once contained a wall of mirror which had to be taken down to install the shower faucet a few weeks ago.  After stowing everything, we headed to Lees Ferry Landing.  We were to meet Laurie and Bob at the campground in Lees Ferry and get ready for the Colorado River in the morning.  The drive from Page to Lees Ferry was taken through some absolutely beautiful territory.  We climbed through these red mountains to over 7,500 feet before dropping into the gorge while winding and twisting at a 6% grade, down to 3,200 feet.  Lees Ferry is the jumping off place for all the “floats” through the Grand Canyon and in the morning we’ll be in the water too.  The big difference is, we’ll (Bob, Laurie, Louise, and me) be picked up by a large river raft and transported kayaks and all up river.

  We were dropped off just before the dam

 at Lake Powell and from there we could float (and do a little paddling) the river back down to Lees Ferry.  Our float/paddle took us just under 6 hours.  The river was running at about 5 miles an hour through the canyon so it was easy to just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

When we did paddle, it was to go from one side of the canyon to the other or to beach and explore.  On one stop we were able to see some petroglyphs

that we were told date back over 1500 years.  Another stop was for a potty break and lunch (not necessarily in that order or importance…).  About every couple of miles there was a sandy beach that had a potty…pretty handy huh?  It was great to get into the Colorado River at this point and especially to be able to paddle with another kayak.  Bob and Laurie have had their kayak

about 4 years now and have been in a lot of incredible areas that we are looking forward to seeing as well.  Well, with the day coming to an end, we finally paddle enough to get us back on land, deflate the kayaks, and head up to our RV’s for dinner and a de-briefing of our day on the water.  Fortunately, Bob and Laurie will be heading to Hurricane, Utah as well for a few days.  We also heard from Dave and Carol Welling (who recently purchased a kayak from us) and they are in Hurricane also.  I hope that we will all be able to get into the water somewhere there. 

17 April ‘08

Thursday

One thing that continues to justify why we keep doing this “Full-Timing” is in meeting other “travelers”… those that like the feel of the wheels under them, those that like a hike, a paddle down a river, lake, or even the ocean, those that are looking for that piece of history or to watch the future in front of us, those that like to explore a glass of wine or taste a specialty beer (especially those)…  Well let me introduce Bob and Laurie Lynch.  We met them deep inside the Upper Antelope Canyon yesterday and today, we spent the day hiking the Toadstools and exploring Cottonwood Canyon by car.  They had heard about this hike into “The Toadstools” and ask us to join them, so with a name like the Toadstools who would pass? 

I am blown away with the different rock, sand, and mud formations that we have seen here in Arizona, and this one sure didn’t let us down.  We did explore a couple of small canyons but most of our time hiking was at the base, or at the top, of some striking hills.  These hills actually looked like someone had taken a large bucket of sand and water, added a little color here and there, reached in and pulled out a handful of the mixture, squeezed it through the palms of their hands, and formed these unusual walls, mounds, and spires.  The Toadstools area was a mix of red rock and a dirty white hard sand that seemed to melt its way from the top of the hills to the bottom…it looked like the sun was melting a huge block of white cheese, and letting it run down the sides it droplets.  Some of the “Toadstools” were of the “white cheese” and balanced on the top, the red rock. 

 Others were red on red…spectacular.  Getting back in the car and driving about 2 miles south, we turned onto a well maintained dirt road and headed deep into the desert.  The dust was flying (and most of it stuck to the every surface and crevice in and out of the car) as we approached the multi-colored mountains.  This drive was to take us out to the mountains and a stream bed that was not visited much by “tourists”.  The whole area was nice to see, but was it worth the effort?  I would probably pass the next time, but for trying it this time, it was a lot of dust, but a good drive.

16 April ‘08

Wednesday

After pulling into Page and the Lake Powell area, we found ourselves totally involved with getting out and seeing everything (or as much as we could in the few days we are staying).  Unfortunately, the wind hasn’t helped our plans…  I remember when we were in Ramona, California and they had the heavy rain, followed with 3 to 4 inches of snow…”the most snowfall in 25 years”, was the story.  Well Tuesday we had wind, and I mean wind.  “The strongest winds in over 25 years” they tell us.  We had planned to take a tour into one of the canyons.  The Upper Antelope Canyon is supposed to be one of the most spectacular canyons available to visit anywhere so we signed up.

  Across the highway is another spectacular canyon, the Lower Antelope Canyon, so we decided to see both of them in the same day.

  The upper is available only with a guide so, with instructions clear to all parties, we followed the Jeep out to this location that we were to leave our car.  As soon as we “all” pulled into the parking lot, Louise and I got our camera, jackets, tickets, and started to run to the Jeep.  Just about 2 feet away from our car, the Jeep took off…”where the hell are they going?”  Well, they took off through the dust and left us standing.  Now remember I mentioned the wind?  I got right on the cell phone and called the tour company and let them know what happened.  Of course, they apologized and couldn’t have been more un-happy that this happened, but now they would have to ask us if we could do it the next day.  Getting back to the wind…I, we, are so happy that they got away from us.  After watching them blast away down that sandy, windy, bouncy road and catching all the above in their eyes, ears, nose, and CAMERAS…no thanks, tomorrow will be just fine.  Tomorrow arrived and we did make the drive down that same sandy path (they called it a dirt road) but before we did that, we took a short mile hike to see the famous “Horseshoe Bend” on the Colorado River.  The view from on top of the ridge to the bend in the river and the huge rock on the other side was amazing.

  I wish we could find a way to put the kayak in and paddle that part of the river…wishful thinking.  Arriving back in town we found ourselves about to enter yesterday’s canyon.  As I mentioned, this is the upper canyon and all we had to do was walk through this very narrow entry and then into some of the most beautiful wind and water carvings you could imagine. 

 The walls that stood beside us, and sometimes over us, are carved out with the rushing waters of today and those of centuries ago.  The winds also have helped.  The winds yesterday actually “blasted” through the canyon and did its own bit of handy work.  Along with doing a little etching, it sent sand down through the small narrow openings in the “ceiling” and doing that, actually created a few “sand falls”. 

Now I didn’t mention the colors…  The colors ranged from soft sand to pink, red, orange, and burgundy.  The gorgeous sloping angles of the rocks, coupled with the shafts of light that make their way down from the rum of the canyon, combine for a scene that cannot be fully explained with words.

  I must admit the pictures that we had seen at the different galleries in town and the pictures in the “tourist” magazines caught the moment and the beauty easily.  This canyon was about a half mile long, so in an hour we had had the opportunity to enjoy it all and now, Louise and I had another appointment across the street to see the “Lower Canyon”. 

 We weren’t sure what we were going to see there, but in a short minute after arriving, we were walking across a solid rock area and looking at a narrow slice in the ground.  Upon closer inspection we noticed the ladder…  We were on our own on this adventure, so approaching the ladder, sliding in though the opening sideways, we descended about 15 feet down to the floor of the canyon.  Centuries ago, when the water rushed through this canyon, it must have come-in swirling, as the length of the canyon kept us leaning either one way or the next.  We were soon stepping down more ladders.  One or two only took us down a step or two, and then there were the others that took us down another 15 to 20 feet.  In my opinion this canyon was on par with the beauty of the “Upper”, but a hell of a lot more fun in making your way through. 

11 April ‘08

Friday

We’ve left Albuquerque behind and now reside just outside of Canyon de Chelly (d’SHAY..) in the Northeast corner of Arizona.  I found this description of the canyons to give you an idea as to what we are seeing:  “A red-tailed hawk casts moving shadows on the sheer walls as it floats high above the canyon.  A Navajo woman tends her corn on the canyon floor, surrounded by a cathedral of towering red cliffs.

  A family at Spider Rock Over-look marvels at the 800 foot free standing spire and the quilt of colors far below.

  For each there is a different view.  Yet, for all, the canyon is quiet…its silence challenged only by the call of a distant raven.”  After pulling in and setting up the coach, we headed right off to see the south side of the canyon, as it’s this time of day that the sun is right for the full impact of the canyon and of course, pictures.  If you were to see Canyon de Chelly from the air, it would look like a huge “V” shaped lightning strike, with the campground right at the base of the “V”.  Our drive today took us over a couple of passes of 6,500 feet and more, and the top of Canyon de Chelly is at an elevation of 5 to 7,000 feet so altitude is becoming a common thing to deal with.  This evening’s drive took us to the overlooks of Tsegi, Junction, The White House Ruins, and finally Spider Rock.  As we made our first stop, it was amazing to see how deep the canyons are, and the steep, vertical walls that seem to either push you back or pull you even closer for that breath taking “closer look”.

  There is the smell of wood smoke rising from the canyon floor and the sounds of sheep bells, barking dogs, and kids playing…the crops of corn, alfalfa, and small fruit orchards all surrounded with fences to keep the animals out are laid out like a tapestry.  The “new spring” colors of the canyon floor that complement the many reds and blacks of the canyon walls.  All of this was brought to our eyes as one of the prettiest “canyons” we have had the chance to visit.  They tell us that “The Navajo culture emerged from this land”, and from what we’ve seen of the canyon and the Navajo people that we’ve met today, it must be true.  Tonight we had dinner in the cafeteria of the Thunderbird Lodge.  In the late 1880’s, this cafeteria was established as one of the earliest “trading places” in the Navajo communities  Believe it or not, the food was still good, even after all that time…  I had the most incredible “Indian Taco” and Louise had a chicken fried steak…mine was by far the best…  Well, tomorrow we will visit the north rim and then head back to the south to hike down to the White House Ruins. 

9 April ‘08

Wednesday

About a month ago we had a little “accident”…Louise accidentally spilled some water onto and into our GPS.  Well, we found out that GPS systems and water just don’t mix and if we wanted to send it to the factory they would try to fix it for us at a base price of $199 plus $17 shipping and handling.  Monday we decided to drive down into Albuquerque to do a little shopping at Costco (who in the world goes to Costco and does a LITTLE SHOPPING???)  Anyway, we found a new GPS system and yesterday we drove the Turquoise Trail (62 miles) to try it out.  There was a little set-up work that was required to get the GPS system to follow the directions the way I would prefer, so I set it to avoid “Toll Roads” and besides that, they don’t have any around here.  As our car pulled away from the coach, directions started to flow freely from our new system.  I dutifully followed every turn and only questioned it once…when this road that we were traveling on (which definitely wasn’t even close to a toll road) all of a sudden narrowed down to a single lane and then became a dirt track… Well we could have turned around and driven back the 10 or 12 miles that we had driven, but we could also keep following our “GPS”.  Thankfully Louise had fixed a lunch to take with us, so I knew that we wouldn’t starve no matter how far off the track our new system took us.  Fortunately, this little dirt track did take us on a little short-cut and we finally found our way to The Turquoise Trail.  Our first stop on Rte 14 was at Madrid.  

Madrid was featured in the recent movie “Wild Hogs” and the famous, Maggie’s Diner. 

 Madrid is really nothing more than a curve in the road that once was a coal mining town that didn’t do too well.  It really hasn’t changed visually a great deal except in color and inhabitants.  The “artists” have moved in and now, it’s “The HAPPENING PLACE”.   It’s so happening, Louise actually found a couple of pieces to purchase.  Seeing as we live in the motor home, we are limited to wall and counter space, so having her find something to purchase is quite rare.  Now if Lou can find something to buy, so can.  On main street we found this great little coffee house…yep, I just had to stop by and check out their quality.

  Now with the motto of “Bad Coffee Sucks”, who could pass the challenge??? 

We did walk from one end of town to the other (this took about an hour, including walking into a number of the galleries)  and then continued our drive up the Turquoise Trail.  10 minutes up the road we found a turn-off to enjoy the “box lunch” that Lou had put together for us.  25 miles further up, we arrived in Santa Fe.  I found it hard to believe, but Santa Fe, New Mexico is the 2^nd oldest city in America.  It’s almost 400 years old, but shows it’s age well with the modern Spanish Pueblo look.  In our walk around the plaza, it was almost unbelievable that we were walking the same area as those 4 centuries ago.  “Painters and photographers

 have been drawn to Santa Fe because of its starkly beautiful scenery and undiffused Southwestern sunlight”.  Santa Fe is located at the base of mountains that reach well over 12,000 feet, but as we found out, Santa Fe is its self at 6,989 feet.  In 1610, the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi was located and founded where it is today. 

It has grown but the beauty was and is today, magnificent. 

We have had the chance to visit quite a few cathedrals in our travels, and this one doesn’t take a back seat to many. 

5 April ‘08

Saturday

“The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying.  No man-make phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before…”Trinity””.  Twice a year the government opens the Trinity Test Site at the White Sands Testing Grounds, and we were there on one of those days.  The Trinity Test Site is the location of the “Manhattan Project”, where in June 1942 the final design and testing of the world’s first atomic bomb took place. 

 No matter what our personal feelings about the bomb and the testing, it was a part of our history.  The fact that we were in the area on one of the days that they open the site to the public was exciting.  To pass through the gates and see where the “event” took place, to stand on “ground zero”,

and to know that the world was changed forever when the testing was successful, was very sobering.  Yep, while traveling we do see the “unprecedented, the magnificent, the beautiful, and the stupendous, but thank God we don’t often see the terrifying”. 

4 April ‘08

Friday

Last night we pulled into The Valley of Fire National Park and found ourselves a great camping site.  There are only 6 sites that have water and electric hook-ups and we found one available.  Valley of Fire campground is the location that over-looks the lava flows that have covered more than 150 miles of New Mexico.  We sit about 80 feet above the flow and have a view over all the flow and a part of the White Sands Bombing Site…fact is, we just had a couple jets do a low run over our heads and disappear into the mountains in front of us.  The deafening sound of the jet and then the blast in the distance of their bombs, made it kind of exciting.  Below us, there is a wonderful pathway that winds around for over ¾ mile over the top of the lava.

  You can stay on the path or wonder down into the flow to get the close up view.

  Last year at Lava Beds National Monument in northern California, we learned that the lava flows can be very sharp, so we stayed on the wonderful path that was provided for us.  At the end of the boardwalk we were stricken with the artistic beauty of a "One Seed Juniper" tree...it was striking in contrast with the black lava.

There are a lot of stones in the Salinas Valley as we found when we visited the Pueblos. 

The Salinas Valley Pueblos were built over 300 years ago by the Anasazi and Mogollon societies.  Now I don’t have any idea as to who they were but they definitely were builders.  All around the pueblos, the Indians developed a large farming and living community.  The pueblos at Salinas Valley were individually small but as for the complete community it was considered large. 

 What we visited today was the contiguous stone and adobe homes of the Anasazi.  It is estimated that at one time, more than 10,000 people once lived and worked here.  They not only raised, and gathered their maize (corn), pinon nuts, beans, and squash, they were hunters.  Soon after Spain conquered and colonized Mexico, they (the Spanish) traveled north and soon found their way to Salinas Valley.  We read a little of the differences of the Pueblo and Spanish priests and the direction of how things went from there…not always friendly!!!  During the times that were a little rough, there were “hidden” rooms that some of the Pueblo peoples would go to for their safety.  The dwellings seemed to be either single or double floored, but where the hidden rooms came in, a larger hole was dug and then rocked over with a hidden entry someplace un-noticed. 

 The rock walls for all the pueblos were at least 2 feet thick, and this gave the people the insulation that was needed for the winters and hot summers, and of course, for their security. 

3 April ‘08

Thursday

Just 15 miles further north of the sand dunes was our overnight stay…this was our 2^nd Wal-Mart parking lot stay since we started all of this.  We stayed in Alamogordo, New Mexico which is a small town that is mostly supported by the military installations around the area.  Another 30 miles north from Alamogordo is a very interesting place to spend some time.  It’s called the 3 Rivers Petro glyph Site.   They have recorded well over 21,000 petroglyphs that were left for us to enjoy by the prehistoric Native Americans from 1,000 years ago. 

The pictures were made with stone tools by removing the dark patina on the exterior of the rock.  Some of the pertroglyphs were made by simply scratching the patina to the lighter layer below and others were created by striking (“pecking”) through the patina.  The site is about 5 miles off of the highway and sits on about 60 acres of an area of small hills that over look the vast   flatlands below. 

They feel that this was most likely a trading area for all the different tribes that frequented the area from miles away.  As we go into all of these different sites, we are constantly reminded that this is “snake country” and they are now out.  I hope that we don’t get complacent, but so far we haven’t seen or heard one of the rattlers, but we’ll keep our eyes and ears open…

2 April ‘08

Wednesday

We finally got our car back… For the last couple of months we’ve had this howl coming from the transmission area and I just felt that Sierra Vista might be the place for us to have it looked at.  The work was all done under warrantee and they thought they might be able to get it done for us in 3 or 4 days.  Well it took 7, but who’s counting??? 

 After picking up the car at the dealer, I found that it had the sound of a vibration so back I went.  To shorten this up a little, a couple of months ago we went into the red clay area of Yuma and put so much of that “goo” under and around the car, that I wasn’t able to get it off even after using the under car power wash 3 times.  Now the dealer decided that it just had to be some of that mud that was stuck on the rear wheels and putting them out of balance.  OK, let’s not argue the point, let’s just give it a try…so we are…  Well, we pulled out this morning from Sierra Vista and are hoping for the best.  Our route took us east on Arizona Hwy 10 all the way to the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico and the glistening white sands of the Tularosa Basin. 

 The Tularosa Basin is in the northern end of the Chihuahua Desert…is that too much information?  Anyway our first stop was at the White Sands Visitor Center.  There we learned about proving grounds were they test fire all the missiles, sometimes land the space shuttle, and the 8 mile circular drive through the “White Sands National Monument”.  About two miles off of the highway, we found waves of glistening white gypsum dunes. 

 The brilliant white gypsum dunes are the largest in the world and we’re running around in our bare feet to really “get the feel”.  The semi constant blowing wind (it was blowing pretty good today) is constantly changing the look of the dunes by moving them about 30 feet a year.