After a final photo shoot, we left Tracy and Eric and headed to Utah. Along the way we traveled through Rio Grande National Forest, over Wolf Creek Pass (where we practiced downshifting), through Durango, and into Moab. Upon arriving in Moab we learned it was the beginning of the Moab Jeep Rally 2023! Our first day in Moab we were up early and headed to Dead Horse Point State Park where Melinda and I took a six mile hike following…
Our Crestone, CO visit has been a blast. Being with Tracy and Eric is always fun. I have known Tracy since 1978 when we and many others worked together positioning LERN to become the leading association in lifelong learning. We so much enjoy sharing what we have been up to and what its going on in our friends’ lives. Besides time together, the highlight of the visit was our time at the Great Sands National Park. The Park includes the…
From OKC we made our way to Colorado via Texas and New Mexico. For much of the way to New Mexico we followed Route 66. Sometimes we were on Route 66 and sometimes driving next to Rout 66. Over much of the terrain we saw no cars or towns. At one point we had to wait for a long train to rumble by. Prior to reaching Amarillo, we did see lots of signs for the Big Texan Steak Ranch where…
The drive from Paducah, KY to Hot Springs, AK was long. Lots of highway and when we got to Hot Springs, the streets were jammed and there was no parking for Stargazer. Visiting Hot Springs on a beautiful Saturday was not a good idea. The grand architecture of the historic bathhouses balanced with natural curiosities was fun to observe, but Stargazer was happy to be out of the city. For the evening we camped at the base of Lake Ouchita,…
The trip from Asheville, NC to Cave City, KY was wet but uneventful. Stargazer had a full day of no functional or human challenges. At this point in the trip we are getting about 18 miles per gallon. In Cave City, outside Mammoth Cave National Park, our camping location for the evening was Rock Cabin Camping. Nice guy running it, but no work had been done on the campground in over 50 years. We do not care much for comforts,…
We left DC at the crack of dawn and arrived in Shenandoah National Park before it opened. We stopped by Mom’s Restaurant for breakfast and then headed into the Park. All three of us hiked the Compton Trail. Because No Dogs Were Allowed, I hiked Stony Man Summit myself. The day was beautiful and the views spectacular; not many people at the Park. That night we stayed at the Spacious Skies Campground in Luray, Virginia. The location was perfect and…
We finished packing Thursday morning and hit the road. The previous week we had Stargazer tuned up and the oil changed. Within 30 minutes of leaving Jackson, the oil light started blinking. After manual research and checking in with RV Guru, Jay Kelly, we discovered we had too much oil. We made an appointment with Miller’s Truck Service in RI and brought Stargazer in first thing Friday morning. MTS was great and we discovered we had two quarts of extra…
On Thursday, March 16th (tomorrow) Stargazer heads west. Melinda, Otto and I will be on the road until Sunday, May 7th and our goal is to get to Portland, Oregon and back. Since Stargazer’s trip to Nova Scotia last fall, we have been busy. While the snow has been inconsistent, we have been able to cross-country ski, snowshoe and hike with friends and family. We have had lots of visitors and we are making many new Jackson friends. Melinda has…
A wishing rock is a beach stone with a perfectly unbroken stripe all the way around the circumference of the rock. My grandfather, J. Harold Williams, taught me about wishing stones as we hiked the beaches of Rhode Island and Cape Cod. He always carried a wishing stone in his pocket. We made it home Friday afternoon. The rains poured all the way home from Abbot, Maine and the rivers we passed were rushing like we have ever seen them…
After a last cup of Tim Horton’s coffee (Melinda) and hot chocolate (Greg), we headed to Baxter State Park, the home of Mount Katahdin. While driving we prepared for Park activities and learned that pets were not allowed at Baxter State Park, so we shifted gears and headed to Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument, the home of a 17 mile bike loop with great views of Mount Katahdin. The ride into KWW was long (12 miles) and the road…