2015-09-21 Cherokee, NC thru Great Smoky Mountain Natl Park to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg in Tennessee

Monday AM we got a wild hair (as my Dad would say) and decided to go to Great Smoky Mountain Natl Park for a few days.  I had some free nights from the Cherokee Casino which is on the edge of the park.  We spent the last few days hiking, sightseeing, wildlife spotting, eating BBQ, and a little bit of gambling in the evenings.

In Pigeon Forge (TN) we visited Goats on the Roof where we got to ride an Alpine Coaster (more like a Redneck Coaster).  It is an all open cart where you control the speed. I took the video while Vaughan controlled the brake (bad choice).  Open the link below to view the video – sorry for the screaming.

https://youtu.be/X2jppQhVxK4

It looked like it was made with bailing wire and barn boards.

We hiked Laurel Falls (2.6 miles) and then drove thru Cades Cove where we saw a mama black bear and her cub, a fox, lots of elk and turkeys. Trees are just starting to change color.

Tuesday Vaughan hiked Chimney Tops (4 miles) while I went to Gatlinburg (TN) shopping. This is not a hike for the faint of heart (or people like me with bad knees and afraid of heights).  He insisted on wearing his old hiking boots - I warned him. He made it nearly to the top when the soles disintegrated. He finished the climb but had to walk back (2 miles) on the inside padding of the boots – at least it was all downhill. 

Here is the last part of the climb - 

... and the view from the top.

Here are the boots as they started to disintegrate.

Lucky for Vaughan they kept the internal felt soles.

and now for some elk pictures and a video.

Open the link below to view the video

https://youtu.be/X4XPH4cMwe4

The bull elk with his harem -

We just watched this big guy chase off another bull. A tree got in his way so he brought part of it with him.

Calves still stick pretty close to the cows.

2015-09-09 Watkins Glen, NY

While visiting our lake house on Keuka Lake in NY we took a day to hike Watkins Glen.  We had not done this in over 10 years.  You tend to forget what beautiful places you have in your own back yard.

2015-04-23 The Long Journey Home

We made it!  Home again at last.  It has been a wonderful trip.  We have enjoyed every minute – even the scary ones.

We started home Tuesday, April 21^st from Cortez, Colorado and made it to Amarillo, Texas the first night. We had driven Route 40 on numerous occasions through Amarillo and I always wanted to stop at the Big Texan restaurant.  When we got to the RV Park there was a sign stating “Free Limo to Big Texan” – how could we resist.  This big cowboy in a stretch limo with horns strapped to the hood picked us up at our front door and a few minutes later there we were.

The Big Texan offers a 72oz steak with all the “fixins” – salad, fried shrimp, baked potato, and a roll.  If you can eat it within an hour you get your meal for free; otherwise, it is $72.  The Saturday before we arrived a young woman weighing 120 pounds ate 3 full meals in 20 minutes. Some people here at the RV Park were there to witness it.  They said she looked pregnant when she finished. That’s no bull.

They make you sit at the head table with timers above you and buckets below you just in case.

I managed to finish most of my prime rib (which was awesome) but only because I wanted to see what the plate looked like.

The rest of the building was like an amusement park – shooting gallery, 3 bars, dance hall, gift shop, fudge bar, museum pieces, and some fun photo ops.

Does this chair make my butt look small??

Wednesday, April 22

Started out early in the AM and got to see a nice sunrise. We passed more wind turbines than you could shake a stick at (stopped counting at 200 and they still went on for miles after that).

Thursday, April 23

We decided to stop in Red Bay, Alabama on our way home (it only added 40 miles on to the drive).  Red Bay is the home of Tiffin Motorhomes that made our bus.  We had a few windows with condensation and they sell them to you wholesale if you stop in and pick them up (otherwise, the price of shipping kills you).

In spite of the stop we made it to Atlanta just in time for rush hour which is no joy in a car let alone a 40 foot bus towing a Jeep.  We managed to make it home around 7:30PM and parked it in the local Publix parking lot for the night.  Tomorrow we'll take the RV up to our little nudist resort in Dawsonville for the summer.

Anyway, so long for now and here is our last picture for this trip.

Enough said!!

2015-04-19 Canyon of the Ancients & Hovenweep

It's been a few days.  Vaughan came down with a cold and it was snowing so we spent the last few days taking it easy.  Friday we drove out to Durango but didn't stay - it was snowing so heavy on our way back we could barely see the road. Saturday we waited for the snow to melt and just chilled out.

Today, Sunday, it was back in the 60s and sunny so we went to the Anasazi Heritage Museum and then on to Canyon of the Ancients and Hovenweep National Monuments to see the pueblo ruins.

Lowry Pueblo was constructed around 1060 AD and lived in for about 165 years. Part of this has been covered to help preserve it.

This was taken down inside the pueblo.

The kiva below is one of the largest in the area (47 feet in diameter).

Painted Hand Pueblo was built around 1200 AD. This was another one we had to crawl down the side of a cliff to get to. There were about 20 rooms in this area but only small remnants of walls remained and a few petroglyphs.  The tower below is a Tuwalanki (Hopi word for lookout tower).

At one time there were rooms under the tower as well.

Our next stop was Hovenweep with its many ruins (1230 AD) surrounding Little Ruin Canyon.  Most were on the rim top but a few were down in.  A two mile hike took us along the top of the rim and then we had to hike down in and up the other side to get back.

This is Twin Towers - it originally had 16 rooms.

Tower Point stands out on a peninsula that looks out over the entire canyon - you can see more ruins on the other side of the canyon behind me.

The next 2 photos are of Hovenweep Castle.

Square Tower is down in the canyon and the one on top is Hovenweep House.

Boulder House was down in the floor of the canyon. Pretty cool huh?

 They had a great view on the top of the rim!

Here is the hike down in - going up the other side was worse - my poor knee!

Now for the nature shots - 

Last but not least was this field of deer.

2015-04-16 Cortez Colorado - Mesa Verde National Park

We left early this morning for Cortez, CO.  It was in the 30s when we woke - we had pulled in the water and sewer lines before going to bed so they wouldn't freeze and had already hooked up the Jeep.  It made our lives so much easier this AM.

Cortez is about an hour east of Monticello so we were settled in by 11AM.  Seeing we had the whole day ahead of us (and anyone who knows Vaughan knows he can't sit still) we went directly to Mesa Verde National Park.

Mesa Verde contains over 4500 archaeological sites of the Pueblo people - 600 of which are cliff dwellings.  These date from AD 550 to 1300.

The climb from the valley below to the top of the mesa was beautiful.

Spruce Tree House was one of the largest cliff dwelling villages with 130 rooms and 8 kivas (round underground chambers).

Lucky for us this was built down where you could walk up to it - most of the others you would have to repel down to.  Notice the kiva - these at one time had roofs with a hole in the top and a ladder coming through the hole.

Here is Vaughan climbing down into one that still had a roof intact.

This is Square Tower House

The next 2 photos are the remains of pithouses and pueblos built on top of the mesa.

Here are a few cliff dwellings from Sun Point View.

Notice the 2 stories on the next two.

Oak Tree House

Fire Temple (also 2 levels)

Here is a close up of Fire Temple - notice the stairs/ladder built into the side of the cliff.

Here is a distant view of Cliff House.

and now closer up

and closer yet.

Here is a video I put on youtube to give a better idea of where this is.

http://youtu.be/VfW_QKci5qY

This is House of Many Windows

After leaving Mesa Verde we drove up to Mancos and passed this pasture where the farmer had left his sprinkler system on - check out the ice sculptures. Too cool (get it - cool?).

Anyway, here is a youtube video I promised yesterday of Moki Dugway.

http://youtu.be/8mDerICSzOA