In conclusion

 Obviously, I'm a very poor blogger. I started to write a blog about our month long trip [September 15 to October 16] in our new Casita, but obviously I fell down on the job.

Here is a rather condensed version of the way our trip went: from New Orleans, though eastern Texas to Amarillo, up through the panhandle of Texas and across the Oklahoma panhandle into southern Colorado, thence to Boulder, then back south a bit and across southwestern Colorado into Utah, up to Moab and the Arches National Park, south again into north eastern Arizona, and, finally, back to Green Valley, AZ. What a long strange trip it's been.

Livingston (TX) is sort of a third or fourth 'home.' It's where our RV organization, Escapes aka SKPs, is based and it was, at one time, our legal residence in the States before we moved to Florida following Katrina. We spent four or five days there tending to the trailer, purchasing and installing little bits and pieces and learning how our trailer's various systems worked.

We enjoyed crossing eastern Texas, both before and after Livingston, beautiful rolling green countryside. On the way to Amarillo we stayed in several state parks, lovely sites, all different, with nice walking trails, lakes, widely spaced campsites, and not too expensive since we had purchased an annual Texas Parks membership.

Some of the parks were full but, generally, we were able to get a site if we booked a few days ahead. All bookings were either online or by phone, in the time of Covid there was no more 'just drive in and get a site.'

We stayed three nights in Amarillo, home of the Cadillac Ranch,

so that we could visit the Palo Duro Canyon State Park 

and the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum at the West Texas A&M University in Canyon,

both well worth the visit. Upon leaving Amarillo, where we did not try to eat 72 oz of steak in order to get the free meal, we drove north though the Texas panhandle, across the Oklahoma panhandle, and into Colorado 

Before getting to the John Martin Reservoir State Park, where stayed overnight, we visited the Tourist Information center in Lamar, CO -which had several contrasting displays: a huge fibreglass windmill blade and an old steam locomotive. The next morning we drove west, into the foothills of the Rockies and then north to Lafayette. There we camped (parked) on a street near Bud & Nancy Spears for a few nights

while we visited with them (on their back porch) and toured the area. It is a beautiful part of the country and if we were 20 years younger I would seriously consider moving out there. The U of Colorado campus in Boulder is lovely, backed right up against the mountains, what a place to live.

Leaving Lafayette we took advantage of the interstate, I-25, and headed south to Walsenburg. This was our first stretch of Interstate driving since we'd left Louisiana; it was a pleasure to drive on such a good road but we missed the feeling of the towns and countryside one gets traveling 'cross lots.' We spent two nights in Lathrop State Park 

before heading west to Durango, another place it would not be too hard to live. Our next overnight was west of the Great Sand Dunes National Park

at the San Luis State Wildlife Area 

which used to be a state park. That night the temp got down to 28F. The area is pretty but empty. We met the park host who said he'd been living there for the past three years - quite the isolated existence I suspect - and then it was on to Durango where we stayed a couple of nights in a private campground. On this leg of the journey we finally got into some high mountain passes, over 10,000 feet. I'd been a bit worried about how the truck/trailer combo would handle the climbs and elevation because some years ago, when we'd traveled some of the high roads in Colorado, around Aspen, our diesel pickup had really bogged down - on one mountain climb we'd been passed by a guy on a bicycle. This time all went well and my concerns were not justified.

Autumn was just beginning, days were warm but, as mentioned, the nights were cooling down enough for sleeping. Our next stop was at the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, 

definitely a highlight of the trip. I was amazed at how many separate 'villages' had been built into the mountainsides, under the large overhanging cliffs. Moving on, we entered Utah via a rather winding two lane road to Blanding which had an excellent tourist information office, first time we've been in Utah in many years. Then it was on to Monticello for a night. 

We had tried to book a site in Moab for three days or so but everything was full though we were able to find a spot for one night at the Moab Rim Campground for Saturday October 9th. On our way there we made a side trip to see the Newspaper Rock Petroglyphs off Hwy 191. 

Then, once set up at Moab Rim, we unhooked the trailer. There is a webcam that shows the line of cars waiting to get into the Arches National Park. The line was long so we waited until the park was ready to close (they close the office where one has to pay to get in but the road is still open) and the traffic had died down. We then drove the six or eight miles to the park entrance, got in with no waiting, and had about an hour and a half to drive around before it got too dark. I would say that the Arches was the highlight of our month on the road - we got to spend that Saturday evening and Sunday morning there - early, we went in at 6:30. 

     

A lot of the photos and advertising about the park are about the natural arches but I found the rocky canyons to be equally impressive. When we were there it was either post, or pre, crowds so the walks we took in some of the small canyons were memorable. Our visit was, for me, a rather spiritual experience. Sunday we headed back to Monticello, stopping to see Wilson's Arch, yet another natural arch along the way:

That afternoon we walked around Monticello and came across a beautiful small golf course that had been built for the town by a local asbestos company. It was gorgeous and had only 50 members. On Monday we drove back to Blanding where we visited the Edge of the Cedars State Park which had it's own local Pueblo sites and an excavated Kiva. The weather was great, we had our lunch at a table outside the museum, and then went back to Monticello for the night.

The next day we began our trip back to Green Valley, stopping overnight at a campground linked to a Quality Inn in Tuba City. Most of Northeastern Arizona is Indian reservation and we passed many small settlements along the way but there sure is a lot of wide-open uninhabited country out there. In Tuba City we saw a boarding school, for Indians, that was closed but had several women sitting outside under an umbrella registering people to vote, and vote early! The town was under an 8pm curfew due to COVID.

Wednesday, October 14, we carried on to Cottonwood, AZ and the Rio Verde RV Park south of Sedona. It was HOT and our AC unit was not ACing. It worked the first few days we had the trailer and then it died; we had decided to wait to get it repaired or replaced when we got back to Green Valley. The weather in South Colorado and Utah was lovely but now, getting into central and southern AZ it was getting much warmer. Rather than sit and cook in the Casita we took a drive to a higher elevation - the small town of Jerome, a small old copper mining town which has become a haven for artists with a few old hippies as well - definitely worth more time than we spent there. 

This building, which we visited when we were here in '99, is an art gallery, apparently with one artist, Robin Anderson, a dog, and Robert's senile wife. He showed us around the gallery, filled with his large 'Rembrandt' style oils of local streams and mountains painted by using 'alumina' and finished with several coats of varnish. Interesting. Then it was back to Cottonwood, now a bit cooler, for dinner and to bed.

We had planned to spend another day on the road to Green Valley but, given the heat, our busted AC, and the fact that we could get a refund of our camp site deposit in the Lost Dutchman State Park (we had spent a few days there in '99) we decided to boogie on to Green Valley. We arrived around noon, 'hot and dusty', and there ended our first long road trip in may years. Driving from A to B, like New Orleans to Nova Scotia, doesn't count as a road trip but this one certainly was.

It is now December 20th and we figured it best to post this before beginning our Holiday letter. That's it for now - we'll see you down the road.

Charlie and Melanie