A Wonderland of Stone Sculptures

Posted on October 22, 2013October 22, 2013 by Dusty Roads

That’s Utah. I haven’t been to Utah yet but I want to. One thing that’s holding me back is physical condition. I get around pretty good for an old gal but Utah has some amazing National Parks and Monuments and I want to see them all. Most of them require hiking…at least what I want to see.

Tops on my list is a sandstone formation that is actually in Arizona called The Wave. It’s located near the Arizona-Utah border, on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes , in the Paria Canyon -Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, on the Colorado Plateau. It is famous among hikers and photographers for its colorful, undulating forms, and the rugged, trackless hike required to reach it. Access to the area is by permit and only 20 are issued each day. The permits are by lottery which makes the odds really slim. Then there is a grueling hike in as that’s the only access. No vehicles, even off road/ four wheel are banned. All water, food, equipment has to be carried in and empty containers etc have to be carried back out. Kind of daunting.

Along with the Wave I want to visit Arches National Park. This park sees 3/4 of a million visitors each year and all agree that it is an extraordinary place. There are over 2000 natural stone arches that have been carved out of the salmon colored sandstone by natural forces, like the wind and rain.

Another often photographed and spectacular natural wonder is Bryce Canyon National Park. Whimsical spires and Hoodoos create a veritable fantasyland. These formations are all shades and colors.

Still exploring the wilderness I want to see Canyonlands National park. This is Utah’s largest National park and it’s divided into 3 sections, 4 if you count the Green and Colorado Rivers that slice it into a big watery Y.

But I’m not done yet, Capitol Reef National Park is long and narrow with some of the most surreally beautiful rock formations in all of the Southwest. How could I not want to go there!?

And there’s still more…Dinosaur National Monument is 210,000 acres of gorgeous canyons and mountains and one of the world’s largest dinosaur bone beds. With hikes here and hikes there I am wearing myself out just thinking about it!

Although there are more parks and monuments the last one on my list is Zion National Park. This is the oldest and considered by many to be the most beautiful of Utah’s parks. 1000 ft. walls of delicately hued sandstone tower above the Virgin River in Zion Canyon. Once again the park is described as “laced with trails” although there are some short , paved walks in the dramatic chasm.

Eventually everyone has to come in from the wild and I do want to see Salt Lake City and the Mormon Temple located in Temple Square, a 10 acres plot that now includes church administration buildings and a domed shaped building, home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

There’s still more to Utah, like the animal rescue that’s featured in the “Dog Town” series on Animal Planet, but it’s time to move on to another state.

The count is now: 17 / 27

Missouri and Montana

Posted on September 23, 2013September 23, 2013 by Dusty Roads | 1 Comment

There’s a photo blog I follow and his post yesterday was that he wants to take pictures in all 50 states before he’s 50. He’s been to 22 states so far. Check his blog out. For the most part its a photo blog. Not a lot of writing but some of his pictures are amazing http://placesunknown.com/2013/09/22/50-by-50/

But back to my quest to visit every state. For me, at my age it isn’t before 50, already passed that milestone. Talk about a bucket list!

Let’s see, we were running through the 8 states that start with “M” and we’ve reached the last 2. And sad to say, I haven’t been to either, Missouri or Montana.

Lets see what I’m missing in Missouri.

I know Missouri is the “Show Me ” State so I’m sure there must be lots to live up to that slogan, plus my time share has an exchange there in Branson. They describe Branson, Missouri, as your destination for good old-fashioned family fun where you can choose from over 70 live shows (head for the famous ’76 Strip Country Music Boulevard), 50 restaurants, amusement parks, whitewater rafting and premier trout fishing. Whew! And that’s just 1 place!

Missouri is another state that divides it’s area up into sections. There’s Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest. One thing I did notice is that RT 61 seems to be a popular scenic drive right through the state.

Parts of the Ozark mountains are also in Missouri.

Missouri played a part in the civil war and there are monuments and attractions celebrating that role as well.

After Harry S. Truman grew up in Independence, leading the allied forces to victory in World War II seemed like the next logical step. And to think, the newspapers at first reported that he lost his election.

Samuel Clemens was born in Missouri.

Then, he penned under the name Mark Twain and changed Hannibal, Missouri into America’s Hometown with classic literary characters like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

And how about St. Louis…meet me in St Louis Louie.

I have to see the famous arch.

Sounds like a neat state to visit as long as I don’t have to paint any fences. 🙂

Last but not least is Montana.

This state is high on my list. With one of the most diverse geographies of any state in the union, as well as being the fourth largest in sheer size, Montana’s snow-peaked mountains, lush valleys and flowing rivers make it a popular tourist destination. Known as “Big Sky Country,” the state’s wide open spaces are home to national parks like Glacier and Yellowstone.

To me Montana means ranching and cowboys and the west. Billings, Montana comes to mind. When you visit Billings you visit the land where General Custer fought the Sioux and Cheyenne, where Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led their people through struggles and to victories, where William Clark left his signature as the Lewis & Clark Expedition passed through and where Calamity Jane raised a ruckus. Learn about the old Railroad history that Billings was built on and about its namesake: Frederick Billings.

Well, I’m running out of space again. Time to post the tally of seen /to be seen states.

Of the 8 M states I’ve only been to 2, Maine and Massachusetts. That leaves 6 that still need a visit. So the count is 8 visited, 18 still to go. (24 states left to review)

M is for…

Posted on September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Wow, Did you realize there are 8 states that start with the letter M? I am not going to do all 8 in one post, especially since a couple of them are going to be crossed off as visited. So before I start can you name all 8 states?

Alphabetically Maine is first. So while you’re thinking about the other 7 states I’ll tell you a little bit about my neighbor to the north. I fell in love with Maine last year when I had the chance to take 2 “mini” vacations.

Maine

YES.

First thing that come to mind when I think of Maine is the gorgeous, rugged coastline. And if you have a rugged coast you need lighthouses. More than 60 lighthouses dot the Maine coast from the well known Nubble Light in York to West Quoddy Head, the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. I’ve seen and photographed a bunch of them, Nubble, Spring Ledge, Portland Head, Pemaquid and more but I’m a long way from all 60!+

Maine is for “Lobsta” or lobster if you want to be accurate. Everyone’s either heard of or eaten Maine Lobster, those feisty crustaceans that are so good boiled, fried, rolled, baked, in salad, well just about any way you want to eat them. Did you know that lobster were once so plentiful that they were used as fertilizer! Native Americans used them as bait to catch more appealing fish. They were considered poverty food and fed to servants and prisoners. You’ve come a long way , baby!

Maine is for wildlife.

I saw a big bull moose there while walking a nature trail.

I braved the sea to get a glimpse of puffins, crazy little clowns. I never realized how tiny they are until I saw them riding those crashing waves.

Maine has the first National Park east of the Mississippi, Acadia National Park. The park includes Mount Desert Island and Cadillac Mountain.

I still want to try a train ride from Boston to Portland. It’s called the “Downeaster”. It can be done in 1 day but it might be nicer to stay over in Portland a night to see a bit more.

By the way, I wrote a lot of posts on Maine last year. Here’s a link to just one of the many :https://aroundustyroads.com/2012/08/29/day-is-done-gone-the-sun/

How many States Have You Visited?

Posted on September 10, 2013September 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Here I am in a traveling “lull”. I’ve been so busy getting acclimated to my new job and my new schedule that vacations and travel haven’t been “TOM” (top of mind). Even now that I’m getting settled in I’m still figuring out the finances. There were bills that I didn’t have before that I now have to pay, bills that I did have that have gone away, bills that were “automatically deducted” that I now have to remember to pay and so on. Plus a big change is that there is no overtime with my new job. I’m earning pretty close to the same hourly rate but a lot of my “fun” money was what I earned by working “OT”.

So while I figure out what I can spend on travel and prepare for next year’s vacation I’ve been playing a little game with myself. There’s a survey/game that goes around Facebook every now and then. It lists all the states and you click on the ones you’ve been to and it gives you a “traveler’s rating” or some such thing. Of course most of the people I know are counting states their plane landed in even if they never got off the plane. I don’t think that’s really the intention but I could be wrong.

Back when I started traveling for fun I thought it might be nice to spend a week in every state. That means 50 weeks of vacation. Of course I would have to “double up” a few years because I doubt if I have 50 years left to take one week a year. I thought I’d like to sell my condo and buy an RV and travel the US that way but the downturn in Real Estate values put a damper on that plan, at least for now.

But I am not going to give up. I met a couple whose goal was to visit every National Park once they retired and they did it. Since there are about 388 National Parks in the U. S. it makes visiting each state sound like a measly goal.

So back to the little game I’ve been playing with myself…I’m trying to cross states off my list but I never seem to get very far before I get side tracked.

How many states have you been to? Can you make a list?

Time for a little TLV (Tour, Lunch. Visitor Center)

Posted on June 28, 2013June 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

So far the tour had been ok. I had hoped we’d see more animals. We’d scoured the mountainsides for Dall Sheep but there weren’t any around. No bears either even at a distance.

We did see a couple more moose and then some caribou.

The guide finally addressed the issue of gulls in the middle of Alaska.

They are called Mew Gulls. And according to him they migrate here to nest. They usually build their nests in trees or even on the ground as long as they are near water. Each time I/we saw them there was a river or pond nearby.

We even got back to the lodge in time for lunch.

Thinking we might be able to save a couple of dollars (or a few pennies) we went to the Base Camp restaurant next to the King Salmon. Turns out they are really the same restaurant just different names. I didn’t quite get the logic there. They share the kitchen, the menu is the same and so are the prices.

Both Sandy and I ordered the fish and chips. It was so good. Not cheap (or inexpensive) but worth every penny.

Then we wandered through the souvenir shops before heading to the shuttle for a trip to the Visitor Center.

After all, I had to get my National Parks Passport Stamped because who knows when I’ll ever get back to Denali again.

The Visitor Center was awesome. There was a small museum nearby that we never even got to go to because the displays in the Center were so good. I got my passport stamped and then we explored the exhibits.

We saw more animals in the Visitor Center displays than we’d seen the whole trip. There were dioramas of Moose

and bear

and wolves.

The Dall sheep looked magnificent.

The Golden eagle was caught in the act of snatching it’s dinner.

The conservation message was clear. Even the smallest things can make a big difference even tipping the balance of nature. I couldn’t help but think of the endangered Piping Plovers back home.

The Athabaskans, the First People, understood this and still respect the delicate balance of man and nature today.

Finally one of my favorite posters…Dogs Don’t Run Out of Gas…I loved that and it was a reminder that we needed to catch the shuttle back because we were going dog sledding this evening.