Utah - Arches and Canyonlands

 Arches National Park

Arches is located just outside of Moab, Utah. It has the world's largest concentration of natural stone arches, estimated at  2,000 in this park alone. 

There are a variety of unique geological formations such as the group below known as 'The Three Gossips."

There are many examples of balancing rocks as well as leaning rocks.

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands is also close to Moab. It has a colorful landscape that has been eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. The majority of the park is viewed from on top of the Colorado Plateau. It  has been aptly described as "the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere" by author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor. We would have to agree.

The more remote trails and canyon floors can only be reached by hikers, backpackers, 4-wheel-drive vehicles and rafters. Brian took the 100-mile White Rim Road at one time and it took him two days. The road  loops around and below the mesa top.  I just look at the road amazement and wonder. The vehicles far below look like little toys.
The trip usually takes two or three days in 4-wheel-drive vehicles or three to four days by mountain bike.

Colorado

Such a beautiful state and home for so many years.
We enjoyed visiting with all of our friends in the Boulder area and even found a nice park to stay in near Lyons which was below the bluffs next to the St. Vrain River.

After leaving the Boulder area we spent some time visiting Marlene and Dan who have a great place in the small mountain town of Beulah, which is near Pueblo. It's a welcome stop and a really enjoyable place just to slow down a bit and enjoy being with our good friends. Always lots of laughter, good food and drink, and fun.

Our next stop was the Gunnison/Crested Butte area which has some truly breathtaking scenery. We made a repeat visit to both the north and south rims of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Some of the steepest cliffs in the U.S. are located here and it's somewhat difficult to even look over the side in some areas. One of the incredible features of the canyon is called the Painted Wall. If two Empire State Building were placed on top of each other at the foot of the canyon they would just barely clear the top of the Painted Wall. Hard to convey the weak-kneed feeling when looking over the edge.

On our way out of Colorado we stopped in Grand Junction, a place where we usually visit some of the wineries. This year we toured Colorado National Monument, a first for me. I was very impressed with the scenery and views.

Minnesota and South Dakota

Since leaving Maine in early July we have been working our way west, stopping along the way to visit wth family and friends. We moved along pretty rapidly so that we could be in Minnesota for a blues festival.

One thing we hadn't anticipated was being at an outdoor concert when the heat index was 115 degrees. We waited until late afternoon to go, but it was still pretty intense. We saw the Lamont Cranston Band, Lukas Nelson (Willie's son), and Buddy Guy.

We got an invite to a Twins game from my brother and his wife. We're not big baseball fans but really enjoyed the evening. My brother had commented that whether you were a fan or not, being at a game was interesting and a lot of fun and he was right. It was great to see them and the rest of my family.

After leaving Minnesota we worked our way across South Dakota towards the Black Hills. We made stops at the Corn Palace and Wall Drug, big attractions for this area of the country. I had been to both places when I was a kid but Brian had never been to either one. I'm sure he's really glad I shared those childhood memories with him.
We spent a few days near Custer where we were fortunate to be invited to plug in at the home of our RV friends Rod and Marsha.

 A new place for us was Crazy Horse Memorial which has a very interesting story behind it. Crazy Horse Memorial  tells all about it. When finished it will be larger than Mt. Rushmore. 

Rod and Marsha loaded us into their convertible several times and showed us the sights. One evening we went into Custer State Park where we saw hundreds of buffalo, including some calves. On our way we had a friendly encounter with some burros who were looking for a snack.

These are just a few of them. They were very polite and waited patiently for their crackers.

Maine-ly Maine

This is the fourth time we have been to Maine in our motorhome. Brian was stationed near Acadia National Park while in the Navy and has shared his appreciation of this beautiful state with me.

Our first stop in Maine is usually to visit our friend Bici. She spends her summers at her home on the island of North Haven. Both Brian and I are fascinated by Bici's house, which she designed, and could probably write a book about all of its unique features and construction. Truly a marvel.
We leave the Bus at an RV park in Camden and take the ferry over to the island.

After a reunion of people and dogs we head up to Bici's house to continue our reunion and get caught up on each others' news. Bici is a gracious and fun friend who is also kind enough to supply us with fresh lobstah for a meal or two. Can't beat that.

After taking the ferry back to the mainland we take a short ride up to an RV park in Ellsworth. From there we have access to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.

This view is from the top of the Bubbles in Acadia, overlooking Jordan Pond. A bit of a hike but well worth it.

We kept trying to catch the fog rolling in while on top of Cadillac Mountain and finally succeeded. Cadillac Mountain is the first place in the United States to be hit by the sun and also the tallest mountain on the East Coast.

Most of Acadia National Park is on Mount Desert Island. There are also several small towns on the island where working lobstermen as well as wealthy people live.

A small part of Acadia is on the Schoodic Peninsula near Winter Harbor. This area is where Brian lived and worked while stationed in the Navy. On the point there are huge rocks to walk and climb on. The ocean comes crashing into them as well as between them, creating some great blowholes.

Rustic carriage roads are a unique feature of Acadia.  These roads were commissioned by John D. Rockefeller Jr.  Their construction from 1913 to 1940 resulted in roads with sweeping vistas and close-up views of the landscape. There are 45 miles of level, 16 foot wide roads which weave around the mountains and valleys of Acadia National Park. There are no motorized vehicles allowed - pedestians, bikes, horses and carriages only. We took a carriage ride that was really informative and enjoyable. They even invited Tilly to ride along. We think she looks like the Budweiser dog up on the front seat with Brian.

New York and Rhode Island

While in New York we stayed once again at Croton Point Park which is on the Hudson River. It's a Westchester County park with big spaces, lots of room to roam, and very close to the express train into the city. We had a nice visit with Brian's family before continuing on to Providence.

My niece Shelby and her husband Dan have relocated to Toronto and we were able to get to Providence in time to see them before they left. We made our way over to Newport and strolled along the Cliff Walk. It winds behind some of the ridiculously huge mansions and has views of several of them. We had a lovely visit and finished the day with  some great seafood in Jamestown.

Wine, Cardboard, and Duct Tape

The Finger Lakes region in upstate New York is beautiful. There are numerous waterfalls, parks, vineyards and wineries surrounding the steeply sloped lakes. It is New York's largest wine producing region with over 100 wineries and vineyards. World class award winning wines and some of the best Reislings we have ever tasted come from this region. Of course we like to stop and sample them.

This year we stayed once again in Watkins Glen at the southern end of Seneca Lake - the largest of the Finger Lakes. We found ourselves in time for the Waterfront Festival and Cardboard Boat Race.

We went to see the boats before the race and some were still being built. Participants can use cardboard and duct tape and paint but that seems to be about it. Many of the boats seemed to have more duct tape than cardboard and some were quite elaborate.

 

 

 

As you might imagine some of the boats never got of the starting line but more than we would have expected finished the race. Some sank on the course. There may have been as many as 100 boats that started in pairs of two about every 5 minutes or so. There are some videos on You Tube of previous years races at Cardboard Boat Race It was a really fun, unique event.

Though the Finger Lakes are NY Wine Country we think there was more beer than wine flowing at today's event. Duct Tape fans - this is one that should be one your bucket list.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Asheville

We decided that the Great Smoky Mountains are aptly named. It may have been the humidity, or perhaps pollution, but the views we saw were a bit smoky looking. The mountains are unique, however, and we are glad we toured. We saw an incredible number of butterflies in the park and miles of flowers both in the park and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We spent a day exploring Asheville, which reminded us a bit of Boulder. It was a fun stop along our way north.