The New Year...

Happy 2015!   We loved 2014 and we are looking forward to 2015.

Look for our Southeast Asia Travel Blog - coming in January 2015

We are Home ~ Safe and Sound!

11 Weeks  *  4,642 Miles  *  Endless Memories! 

Well ~ we arrived home safe and sound and had a great trip.
We hope you enjoyed riding along with us and hope we see everyone sooner rather than later!
We had a great last week in St. George and then wandered home through Death Valley National Park and then once we made that corner heading north we barreled through California and Oregon ~ partly due to that inclination to get home once you see it on the horizon and partly because the weather looked to take a turn for the worse.
In anycase we have a few more pics to share and then we will leave you alone ~ at least for the time being ;-)
Best to all~   Don and Carol

ps: by the way if anyone wants to review past posts they are listed on the right side of the blog under the months posted.  So click and relive the dream......

         We got to visit with friends Steffan & Rachel 
        - who took us on an adventure in Kolob Terrace.

      A back road from St. George to Nevada takes you to
    fascinating landscapes and endless waves of Joshua Trees

                                                        Zion National Park !!!

                                                    Death Valley National Park

A Week in Moab, Utah

If you haven't been to Moab -  put it on your bucket list!

Yes ~ we were here several weeks ago -  but we had to come back for a couple of reasons ~  well we love this area and also our friend Kim Richey was going to be performing in the Moab Folk Festival over the weekend.
http://www.kimrichey.com/
We have visited here 6 or 7 times and we always find new and different areas to explore and going to the 12th annual Folk Festival we knew would be a hightlight!
Along with Kim we saw great performances from Ellis, Ray Bonneville, Kris Delmhurst, and Richard Thompson.

    Another highlight was being able to spend time with Kim (who currently lives in Nashville) and share with her the beauty of the area and visit and hike in Arches N.P.  We had a great day and pleasant evening sipping wine and reminiscing at our campsite on the Colorado River.

We also had a great bike ride on the Moab bike trail.  hiked the beautiful Courthouse Wash that starts outside Arches and winds into the park.  We also visited Dead Horse State Park and Island in the Sky in Canyonlands N.P.

                                            our hike up Court House Wash

                               Climbers on top of pinnacle at Arches Entrance

                                         Kim standing at Window Arch in Arches
 

                                                            Turret Arch

                                    Kim taking a break from her music and playing tourist

                                             Skyline Arch -  football field in length

                                                              Navajo Arch

                                               Partition Arch with view beyond!

We have just arrived in St. George and from here we will visit Zion N.P. and surrounding areas.
We are also getting together with Steffan Gregory who is an old friend of Stuart's and is a wilderness guide in this area and doing some back country hiking.

We are on the home stretch and we look forward to seeing ya'll when we get back !

Don and  Carol

Durango and Environs!

Howdy Folks!

We are at the end of our week in Durango and getting geared up to head  back to Utah ~ through the Canyon of the Ancients N.M. and Hovenweep N.M.

We have had a fantastic time here and though we were disappointed when we arrived on Oct. 26 only to find out that the 25th was the last day of the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railway for the year :-(   ~  We have had plenty of fantastic days of touring, bikeriding and overall enjoying this part of Colorado!

 From Mesa Verde to Aztec N.M there are incredible ancient Puebloan ruins to explore and the scenic drives radiating from Durango are breathtaking!

Durango itself has a real open, upbeat feel to it -  a town of about 20,000 very open and friendly people that thrive on all the outdoor activities that surround it.  Winding through the length of the town is the Animus River -  a gold medal trout stream with a 7 mile River Walk along its length through the town.  Along with 6 brew puts, 2 golf course, and enless hiking trails ~  whats not to like!

                   The train yard for the Durango-Silverton Railway -  right next to our condo

              Durango dates back to 1881 and mainstreet has many historic buildings

                                      including the historic Strater Hotel

One day we drove a fantastic scenic route from Durango to Silverton to Ouray - then looped back via Ridgeway and Dolores.  The section from Silverton to Ouray is called the "Million Dollar Highway" either for the view or the cost per mile to build (no one seems to know for sure).  One thing for sure is the beauty of the mountains and  scenery going over passes more than 11,000 feet!!!!

                                              The town of Ouray, Colorado

                                                    Rocky Mountain High 

We were fortunate enough to get a timeshare week at the Wyndham right in town so walking and biking were a breeze and there was room to store Obi-Wander  (our trailer) for the week.

The River Walk is a fantastic bike ride (15 miles round trip) and we felt vindicated when we did the north end of it and it ran several miles along the narrow gauge rails that go to Silverton !

Of course one of the highlights of the area is "Mesa Verde" which is about 45 miles west of Durango and though we had been there in the past we were looking forward to returning and seeing areas not visited before - including the Cliff Palace = which are the largest cliff dwellings in North America.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Palace

Aztec, New Mexico is an old town just south of Durango and is home to 

"Aztec Ruins N.M."  which is an extensive Puebloan ruins site.

The 126 mile Animas River winds its way from Durango to Aztec and joins the San Juan River (another gold medal trout stream).

There are extensive sandstone canyons containing as many as 220 natural arches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Ruins_National_Monument

Thanks for Watching!!!     Don & Carol