Monday, March 21, 2022

In the POD - and we are Home!


Beam me home Scottie!

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 Once you make up your mind that you are heading home…… all you really want to do is just be there! Besides, we had promised Rosie that we would be home in time for her birthday. And we made it with time to spare.

So that’s what we did! It took us 6 days of relatively modest driving to get home, stopping @ 4 pm each day for a night at a campground or a truck stop. We made one morning excursion to our favorite BBQ place in Winchester, Virginia - Bonnie Blue BBQ! BBQ for Breakfast! Smoked Kielbasa, white grits, and eggs…delicious. Of course we also ordered some smoked brisket to take with us…..

I’ve written about this place before; located in an old gas station with the pit smokers right outside.  Everything is sooooo good! We discovered it on our BBQ and Beer Adventure ( see Dec 2016 / Jan 2017) and have been returning every time we head south. 


Bonnie Blue
Winchester, VA

So, this adventure is now in the books and it truly was as delightful as we wanted it to be. We got to see friends that we couldn’t see in person for over 2 years! Being together filled a huge void for each and every one of us. We were able to visit new museums, see new areas of the country, experience more national parks and monuments, and sometimes just stare into the vastness of this diverse country. The topography, geology and weather in the U.S is so different from one place to another. And so too is its cultures, social constructs and backgrounds, and ethnicities. That is what makes this country so unique and  is, ultimately, its strength.

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By the numbers:

80 days on the road.

Over 10,000 miles.

17 campgrounds/state parks

10 driveways

16 truck stops/rest stops/BLM land

4 National Parks

5 National Monuments 

6 Museums

……. And a WHOLE lot of beautifulness! 

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Saturday, March 12, 2022

In the POD - Back in the Southwest

 

Lukachukai, AZ
Route 13 heading NE between AZ and NM

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A few more stops in the Southwest were on our list although, being in the northern high desert, all would be totally dependent on the weather. We knew that temps would be in the low 40’s during the day/low 20’s at night which was perfectly fine for us. The POD is very warm! We have 2 options for heating - electric for when we are plugged in at a campsite or propane when we are off-grid. Both systems heat the radiant heating pipes that run through the floor and walls of the van. Our main concern was snow and ice on the roads and having lived in this area once before we understood that a lot of snow can happen quickly. 

We headed east out of southern CA on a perfectly beautiful sunny day. As we drove north on route 15 up to Barstow we were surrounded by the snow capped Mount San Antonio (clocking in at an astonishing 10,066’) to the west and Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear to the east. We began our climb into the high desert of the Mojave and settled in for our drive across route 40. This area, so open and flat, is a great spot for train watching! Barstow is a major rail hub and trains from all directions of the country converge here loading and unloading goods from the ports of southern CA. In the past, we have often chosen to spend the night in Barstow, on a hill overlooking the valley, just to watch and hear the trains. Yeah… super geeks!

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Homolovi State Park in Winslow, AZ is an archaeological site in the high grasslands of northern Arizona. From the 1200’s - the late 1300’s this area was inhabited by the Anasazi - known today as Hopi. In 1986 the Hopi people, together with state parks system, established this as a center for continued research, hiking trails and camping. 

The other “archeological” site we visited was a certain corner in Winslow, Arizona! 

“Standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a
fine sight to see….”

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Old Relic Brewing 
Winslow, AZ

We also just happened to find a local brewery on the block! Okay, that’s not true because I tend to search for breweries in whatever town we happen to be spending some time in. This place was fantastic! And the food was even better….. Tim had a Rueben that he declared the best pastrami he’s had in a long time and I had a burger that was topped with roasted green chilies and a saracha slaw. We split an order of onion rings that were coated in a cornmeal crust! 

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The Navajo Nation Indian Reservation fills the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona. We headed north and then east to Chinle, AZ home of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, a labyrinth of canyons totaling84,000 acres within the Navajo Reservation. People have lived in these canyons for over 5,000 years. Today, they are home to the Dine, the Navajo people. 

Canyon de Chelly 

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You can drive both the North and South Rim trails and there are multiple overlooks, some with short trails, that you can stop at and look into the canyon. At its deepest the canyon is 1,000’ and as you look over and across you can see multistoried villages dotting the canyon alcoves and slopes. 

Canyon de Chelly

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I was blown away by the beauty of this canyon! Obviously it is much smaller than the Grand Canyon but this is just as impressive. One feels much closer to the beauty here and, big point, there are way less people visiting here. 

Canyon de Chelly

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We decided to continue north along state route 13 and head into New Mexico passing through the Chuska Mountains. As we began our climb the many red rock formations we encountered along the way were just as stunning as those around Sedona, AZ. 

Lukachukai, AZ

And climb we did! The red rock formations turned into alpine trees, the altimeter kept going up, the snow on the side of the road got deeper and deeper…… The summit maxed out at 8,500’ and then we started down the other side, a bit slowly, but all in all a successful adventure! Once we emerged from the mountains another high plains vista was laid out spectacularly before us! 
In the far distance was Shiprock, a slim rock formation that literally rises from the earth topping out at just over 7,000’ at its center and then fanning out slowly on either side for miles creating what looks like the back of a triceratops. Geology just kills me!!


Shiprock

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Eventually we worked our way down to Santa Fe, NM and stayed in a very familiar campground…. a KOA on Old Pecos Trail just south of town. It was the campground we lived in for about 8 months (in our 26’ GMC) with an infant and 2 good size dogs from the Fall of 1986 - Spring 1987. Needless to say, the campground is quite different and so is Santa Fe.

Old school…..
Pecos Trail KOA

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35 years is a lot of time and knowing how much we’ve  grown and changed personally…..it’s only natural that communities do too. 

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Sunday, March 6, 2022

In the POD - Memories are tricky things


Saying goodbye to the Pacific Northwest (for now)
Mount Shasta 

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Over the past 6 weeks we have been mostly “driveway” camping. California and the Pacific Northwest is home to many friends and family whom we want to spend time with while here. Of course we add in a few stops for new exploration; a serendipitous day trip, a new national park or historical site - but mostly our time here is filled with seeing and catching up with loved ones. And what better thing to do other than hang out, go for walks, cook together and, yeah, reminisce. 

9 driveways in 3 states. Family. Friends that go back 60+ years. Newer friends that we’ve been close to for  10+ years. Co-workers, roommates, and even bosses! Each and every one is part of our history and we are a part of theirs. So many shared moments - some of them life changing - and strangely enough, …. Therein lies the rub.

During these visits I’ve been continually shocked by the memories that I thought I had. That I thought were exactly the way it all happened. And yet, here I am, re-examining my own recollections and my memory. Try it! Spend some time reminiscing with old friends and bring up a specific party or event, an old relationship and I bet their retelling will be very different than what you remember. A totally different house, a totally different kind of day, and even some moments you had simply not bothered to record! 

We are all getting older and, yes, the concept of time is a young person’s game. Maybe we are all just holding on to what feels right or safe. Or maybe we have always just put to memory the things we needed to in order to justify the moment. Could be anything and everything. But at this point, I’m just going to go with it and acknowledge that we all see the past differently. 

Basically, whoever is around the longest will get to have the final say. 

It doesn’t really matter. I’m just so happy and satisfied to have all these amazing people in my life. 

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