March 26-Mt. Toy, Oregon

Did you think we were lost? Sorry. We had an absolutely gorgeous drive across Oregon, from the far south-east corner to Bend. Beautiful sunny weather, billowy clouds in the sky, the Sisters and Mount Bachelor bright, clear, and snowcovered...getting bigger and bigger by the hour. We stopped to take pictures and the camera decided the trip was over. No lights came on and no matter how many buttons we pushed the poor thing just sat like a brick. I believe we actually wore it out! So, no beautiful skylines to share, but we have been shopping already, trying to find a replacement so never-fear! We got to Bend excited to rent ski equipment and hit the slopes (so that we wouldn't be skunked this year), but it turns out that its spring vacation in Oregon and the slopes are packed. I despise skiing in crowds so we just kept heading west. Made it to Mt. Toy (AKA Eugene) before Caroline even got home from her trip to Dallas. Mt. Toy is impressive, thats for sure. We couldn't wait to see all the family and get to hug Lentil...not to mention Caroline and Marc. We just came back from a party at Ken and Laura's with EVERYONE! Using a camera from Costco that I wanted to try out I was able to take some goofy pictures. Aren't the kids cute????? You can see why we had to keep driving west. They are all just as wonderful as ever and we have really missed them (K,L,K,E,C,&K too of course). Nice and rainy here so it feels just like home! The camera flunks so I'll try another before I settle on one.

March 22-"Magnificent Desolation"-Death Valley, CA

Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11, described the lunar surface as "magnificent desolation"...well, maybe they did film the moon walks at Death Valley! I thought this place would be flat, dry, hot, and dusty. Not so! Well, it is dry--they get less than 2 inches of rainfall a year. We had a lovely day, with a nice breeze so the temperature was only in the 80's (compared to Big Bend it was chilly). When you come into the park you drop from about 4,000 feet from the mountains that surround it to the desert floor. Most of the valley is below sea level, and at one spot its acutally 282 feet below. Its the lowest point in the western hemisphere. The colors of the valley, mountains, and sky are amazing...guess thats what they call "earth tones". All different browns, oranges, grays, even red and tourquoise. I thought of you Hank--you would need quite an artists palate to paint this place! We should have spent more time here because we didn't see the huge sand dunes that are to the north...but the urge to head west is still propelling us towards family and friends.

March 19 and 20- Lake Havasu and Bob!

This lake is paradise in the middle of the desert. Bob certainly knows how to pick his homesites! He has a comfy condo here and the powers that be allowed us to park our RV practically outside his front door. Another free spot, yeah! We can even see the lake from our window. We toured Havasu City in Bob's '65 GTO and then spent the afternoon on the lake in his boat. Really heavenly! The clouds even rolled in just enough to cool the place off a bit...just for us! I could easily spend my days floating around the lake, reading silly novels. Elsie thought it was wonderful too as she has been irritated by the desert. She swam several times and enjoyed her normal barking and chasing sticks routine. Bob has been feeding us like the King and Queen too. Gene hasn't had a steak since Washington DC, so he attacked it with a vengance. We are just lounging around this morning and will take down the satelitte dish and head north before too long. Bob is about to start packing and moving the cars up to Osooyoos before too long. This is a WONDERFUL place to visit...thanks Bob!

March 17- Carlsbad Caverns, NM

We’ve been underground all day! Walked about four miles inside the caverns…down to 850 feet below ground. We even ate lunch underground as they have a lunchroom where you can buy sandwiches and pop at 550 feet. We packed our own but it was pretty strange to sit at picnic tables in the dark and eat your bagel! It’s even darker when they turn out the lights (which they do on some of the tours). I took lots of photos, but it’s really hard to get good ones without a tripod. Hopefully mind won’t look blurry when they get to the blog. I’ve already deleted lots of them. We left the rig at Guadalupe National Park and drove the jeep up to Carlsbad (about 35 miles) so we will be heading out in the morning. The plan is to try to get to Cousin Bob’s before too long. At the moment Gene is watching the Cougars play against Vanderbilt in the NCAA tournament. Lots of screaming!

March 16-Guadalupe National Park, TX

We had a little trouble with the rig overheating on our drive to Carlsbad Caverns so we lost a day on the road. Had to stop and pressure wash the radiator to get things to cool down. Too much dust in Texas I guess. We got fabulous views of El Capitan on the way into the park. We are now surrounded by the Guadalupe Mountains at a small campground inside the National Park. The mountains themselves were formed as an ancient marine fossil reef 260-270 million years ago. At that time a huge tropical ocean covered portions of Texas and New Mexico (that’s what formed CCaverns as well). Eventually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried in sediments and mineral salts, until it was uplifted forming the mountains. They are incredibly beautiful and go straight up three thousand feet, on three sides of our campground. Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8749 feet, is right in front of us. The campground itself is already at 5,700 feet so it’s nice and cool up here. Whew. If you hike the area I gather you can find fossilized evidence of the sea. I’ve been sitting here looking at the most incredible view writing a paper about cognitive development in young children instead of exploring…good thing I like my coursework! Carlsbad Caverns are only 35 miles away so we will drive up there tomorrow and leave the rig here (don’t want to push our luck with any more overheating).

We just returned from a short hike and the nature talk at the visitor center. Great talk with beautiful slides of the area at all different seasons. He explained all the plants and animals in the area. Very well done talk. Nice and dark when the talk was over so the walk back to the campground was amazing. The sky is REALLY dark in Texas so the stars really shine. The only constellations I remember are the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia…Dad would be ashamed of me! He would have loved this night sky though. A telescope would be wonderful up here.

March 13 and 14-Big Bend National Park, TX

We tried to explore Big Bend in 2 days and we are pooped! It is an enormous park, just over 800,000 acres. It is in the southern tip of Texas bordered by the Rio Grande River. Across the river is Mexico. The Rio Grande isn’t too grand anymore as it is dammed a number of times (by both the US and Mexico) between it’s headwaters in Colorado and here. There are plenty of places where you could wade across without any trouble…but the border guards frown on it. Not too sparkly and clear either, it looks like chocolate milk it’s so full of silt. It’s beautiful territory though. Several gorgeous mountain ranges stick up from the Chihuahuan desert. Too hot for us as it was 95 today and can get up to 120-150 in the summer. We drove a lot and hiked as much as we could stand. Elsie hates it as she doesn’t like heat either. We had to leave her in the motorhome with the air conditioner on most of the time….poor puppy! Had a beautiful hike this afternoon up the Santa Elena Canyon. It’s a narrow canyon with sheer, steep, rock walls. People like to raft and kayak down it. We hiked along the US side (on our right in the pictures) and the other side of the canyon is Mexico. We are getting ready to move on in the morning...doing laundry and cooking a turkey! Nice to be plugged in so we have to take advantage of it!

March 12- Jo Momma's RV Park

Tonight we are camped just outside Big Bend National Park in Texas at Jo Momma’s RV Park. It’s desert country with beautiful blue sky dotted with small puffy white clouds. We look right out at the Chisos Mountains that are inside the Park. The nearest town is called Terlinguas. It’s a bit warm outside but we’ve got just enough of a breeze through the rig to be comfortable. I gather it will get quite cold during the night and hot all day…I guess that’s what desert means! Prickly pear cactus, ocotillo, and what I think are creosote bush all around. We drove 5 hours to get here so I don’t think we’ll go into the park until tomorrow. I’m eager to hike a bit so I hope tennis shoes are OK in the desert…wish I had some boots! I hear that now Texas has been having tornados…well, they aren’t anywhere near us. No telephone connection here but Gene has the satellite dish up and the TV on. The neighbors tell us that at 5:00 everyone is going down to the local burger joint for 2 for 1 hamburgers (a regular Monday night event). Gene is a happy man.

March 10 - LBJ Ranch

We rode bikes around President Johnson's ranch today. Gene discovered online that the National Park Service was going to host the first ever "friends of the ranch" bike ride. It only cost $10 so we signed up for the afternoon ride. Luci Baines Johnson (I don't recall her married name), LBJ's younger daughter led the ride and told great stories about her father, her family, and the ranch. LBJ gave 700 acres of the ranch to the park service before he died. It's a lovely spot, at least it was today. It was sunny and 75 degrees, and we had a nice breeze so riding was just about perfect. We rode by the house where the Pres was born as well as the larger house where LBJ's grandparents lived, that later became the Texas White House. Nothing fancy...very "down home." Obviously a wealthy family, but the house wasn't that big a deal. Huge pecan trees lined all the roads on the ranch. The family cemetery where LBJ is buried is shaded by enormous oak trees. We spoke a bit with Luci, and a bit more with her husband as we were riding along. About 1/2 way through the ride Luci got word that her mother was coming up to meet the group. Lady Bird is 94 years old and Luci had said that she was blind and couldn't speak but was generally in good health. Well, up drives a nice white car with two men in the front seat (a driver and secret service?) and Lady Bird and her nurse in the back! She stopped and shook hands with several people (the ride organizer, a state senator that was on the ride, and several others). She was smiling and waving and seemed to love the attention of our group of 75 riders. How Gene gets us involved in these things I'll never know! I kept thinking someone was going to start hitting us up for a big contribution, but it never came. No photos as my camera seems to have given out. It won't shut off unless you take the battery out. Really a nuisance since you have to take it out after every photo or the battery dies. We can still take pictures, it just takes more effort. We'll get it fixed ASAP!

March 9- Remember the Alamo

We drove in to San Antonio today and wandered the Alamo for a bit. While I've heard the quote, "Remember the Alamo" forever, I really had no idea what it was all about. Evidently Texans all know as there were zillions of school kids visiting. The Alamo was origionally a home to missionaries and their Indian converts from 1724 to 1793. In 1835 though it played a critical role in the Texas Revolution. The battle between the Republic of Mexico and the rebel Texian forces (Anglos and ethnic Mexicans in Texas) took place during the Texian fight for independence. There was a 13 day siege that ended with the capture of the mission and the death of nearly all the Texian defenders. In spite of the loss, the holdout stalled the Mexican Army's progress. The Texian revolutionaries went on to win the war. Our next stop was the Riverwalk, which is right next door. Its an amazing feat of civil engineering. Evidently San Antonio used to flood but the riverwalk is just part of the project that protects the city now. There are lots of restaurants all along both sides as well as cute bridges and benches for relaxing. I felt like getting some exercise so I went speedwalking up and down several times. We drove on up to Fredericksburg afterwards so we'll be ready to explore President Johnson's ranch tomorrow.