Thursday, Hoover Dam

Out of the city, on to Hoover Dam today.  The drive to Hoover Dam was rather uneventful, no spectacular scenery.  Until we arrived at the dam!

Although the dam is not a natural wonder, it is nevertheless a wonder! What is amazing is the fact that the engineers conceived and brought to completion this structure without the aid of CAD or even advanced calculators.

We took the tour - had a delightful guide - but what stood out to me was the most was the sparkling cleanliness of the place, from the parking deck down to below the dam in the turbine area.  Gleaming, "see your face in the reflection clean."  Guess I was expecting a dark, noisy, greasy, coal-dust (I know, I know - water-turbine!) filled tunnel. Steve was most impressed with "the construction of it" - how's that for a male / female perspective?!

So, for those who are interested in "the construction of it" here is some physical data: (hopefully more interesting than me saying "Wow, it must have taken a ton of concrete to build it!)

The Dam
Type: Arch gravity
Height: 726.4 feet
Crest length: 1224 feet
Crest width: 45 feet
Base width: 660 feet
Volume of concrete: 3.25 million cubic yards

The Powerplant
Commercial generating units: 17
Station service units: 2
Nameplate capacity: 2080 megawatts
Length (each wing): 650 feet
Width (each wing): 55 feet
Height (each wing): 75 feet

Lake Mead
Shoreline: 550 miles
Capacity: 28,254,000 acre-feet
Maximum depth: 498 feet
Length when full: 110 miles

Sorry to interrupt the program, but just ate an authentic Navajo Indian restaurant that served Mexican food.  Very busy, and we were the only white people in the place!  Had Mexican pizza - delicious.  Just thought I'd throw that tidbit in.

Back on the road again - about an hour from Albuquerque, then about half an hour further to our destination for the next 3 days - Santa Fe.  We are so looking forward to Santa Fe -  we love the southwestern culture and architecture.  Thinking about doing our basement in southwestern style - goes great with European Traditional, right?!

Day 6  Mesa Verde National Park

After watching our home church service via the Internet (thanks Drew!)and seeing a few glimpses our our precious Mia, we spent the afternoon in Mesa Verde National Park.  This was simply fascinating!

Around 900 AD, Anasazi Indians came to this area, followed by other tribes around 1200 AD who were later known as Ancestral Puebloans. These Indians built communities into the sides of the canyon walls underneath cliffs by shaping blocks of sandstone which they used to build walls.  The rooms are quite architecturally creative and beautiful to look at.

We were able to see 3 major communities, and Steve actually hiked down to one that is accessible to visitors.  (Another site is accessible only by ladders down the canyon wall!)

The park is huge, with many interesting sites of excavations, a museum, lodge, and restaurants.  We took a driving tour around the top of the mesa, which presented good photo ops!  Haven't seen the pictures yet - hope you are able to get a good idea of how spectacular these communities really are.

Weather today - a beautiful 69 degrees!

Tomorrow, we head into Utah to Zion National Park.  I keep wondering if we will get tired of the National Parks, but so far they have been so diverse, it has been a gift to be able to enjoy God's creation so up close and personal!

And I have a most wonderful traveling companion.  I chuckled to myself the other day, thinking about how compatible we are after 30 years!  We just love being together.  (Good thing!)

Until tomorrow, if the motel has wireless!  

Day 8 - Zion National Park

And I thought Monument Valley was tops.  What we experienced today makes Monument Valley the Hors d'œuvre! Just the appetizer to the scenery that was to come!

Zion National Park is arguably the most beautiful place the we have ever been privileged to see.  For those of you who may not believe one can feel more in union with one place than another, just skip this blog!
>From the time we entered the park, I felt a presence, an almost mystical sense of a "spirit" of which at first I could not fully understand; I only knew that I felt I had entered into a sacred sanctuary. Only until we took the guided tour, and learned the history of the park was I able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Shortly after the pioneers settled in the area, (after the Anasazi Indians had left the area and moved to the southwest due to drought), an explorer named John Wesley Powell (yes, he was a Methodist!)  visited Zion on the first scientific exploration of the park.  As a result of what he saw, he was impressed to name the sights after Biblical history.
For example, he named a group of three magnificent mountain peaks "The Patriarchs" after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  A narrow ledge of rock that reached up into the sky he named "Angels Landing."  An imposing whitish-colored mountain he named "The Great White Throne." There is also "The Pulpit and the Altar."  As the guide began to share how Powell chose the names so many, many years ago, I began to realize the "spirit" I was feeling was the Spirit of our God, the One who created Zion National Park.

I could go on and on about this place, but I don't want to be boring (and I might run out of space!)  I must say though that I found healing and strength in this place.  I was astounded when I later read the National Park Service's Guide to Zion that ended with these words "Perhaps today Zion is again a sanctuary, a place of life and hope."
Whoever wrote those words could not have known ... or maybe they do?            

Day 7

WOW!  What a day! If I had to choose a day of favorites so far, today would be my pick.  Although it was our longest drive yet, it was the most spectacular.  We began in Cortez, CO and ended in Kanab, UT.

First stop - Four Corners region.  This is the only spot in the United States where four states touch.  It is rather inconspicuous, out in the middle of nowhere on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation.  Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico all come together in one corner.

Shortly after leaving Four Corners, we came upon a roadside stand where two Navajo women were preparing food - barbecue ribs and Indian fry-bread.  Much to our dismay, we had just eaten at Burger King, but stopped anyways to try fry-bread.  While waiting for our bread, the woman cooking the meat gave Steve a sample - oh my, was it delicious.
Then we are all more sorry we had eaten at a burger!  For the record - fry-bread is scrumptious - somewhat like a tortilla but more tender and flavorful.  We had half with powdered sugar and half with salt (just to be authentic!)

Next - Monument Valley.  I sit here and try to think of adjectives to describe the beauty - but words fail.  The best way to describe the sights would be to think of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring landscape of tall, massive monoliths that you can imagine, then multiply the beauty 100 times.  Hopefully the pictures will convey at least a fraction of the beauty.  My favorite place so far!

We drove through the southernmost tip of Glen Canyon National Park and Lake Powell.  This area was quite busy and appeared to be a playground for the wealthy according to the size of the watercraft!

Next - Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument, a multi-hued landscape of chocolate, vermilion, white, gray, and pink cliffs and canyons.  Again, almost too beautiful for words!

We did not explore much in Glen Canyon or Grand-Escalante - we have realized that this area is just too rich in sights to be  able to see it all, no matter how organized!

Next -
We arrived finally arrived at our destination - Kanab UT. Kanab is known as "Little Hollywood" as many movies have been made here.  We are staying in "world famous" Parry's Lodge, where the stars stayed while making their movies.  We watched "Sierra" tonight in the barn where John Wayne, Butch Cassidy, Roy Rogers and others stabled their horses while filming.  Many, many famous stars have stayed here, including Ronald Reagan, George Hamilton, Burl Ives, Clint Eastwood, Roy Rogers, Dale
Evans, John Carradine, you get the idea!  We drove out into the canyon and saw the remains of the set from Gunsmoke.  Kind of brings the old west to life!

Well, after re-reading this blog, no wonder we are ready to call it a day!

Until tomorrow - and Zion National Park,
the tired but happy travelers  

Day 6  Mesa Verde National Park

After watching our home church service via the Internet (thanks Drew!)and seeing a few glimpses our our precious Mia, we spent the afternoon in Mesa Verde National Park.  This was simply fascinating!

Around 900 AD, Anasazi Indians came to this area, followed by other tribes around 1200 AD who were later known as Ancestral Puebloans. These Indians built communities into the sides of the canyon walls underneath cliffs by shaping blocks of sandstone which they used to build walls.  The rooms are quite architecturally creative and beautiful to look at.

We were able to see 3 major communities, and Steve actually hiked down to one that is accessible to visitors.  (Another site is accessible only by ladders down the canyon wall!)

The park is huge, with many interesting sites of excavations, a museum, lodge, and restaurants.  We took a driving tour around the top of the mesa, which presented good photo ops!  Haven't seen the pictures yet - hope you are able to get a good idea of how spectacular these communities really are.

Weather today - a beautiful 69 degrees!

Tomorrow, we head into Utah to Zion National Park.  I keep wondering if we will get tired of the National Parks, but so far they have been so diverse, it has been a gift to be able to enjoy God's creation so up close and personal!

And I have a most wonderful traveling companion.  I chuckled to myself the other day, thinking about how compatible we are after 30 years!  We just love being together.  (Good thing!)

Until tomorrow, if the motel has wireless!  

Day 5 Durango to Silverton

Today was a highlight!!!  Especially for Steve!  The day didn't start out as a highlight - snow and ice!  Our trip plan was to ride a tour bus to Silverton then bring the train back down to Durango, but when we arrived at the station, we were notified that the bus might not be able to make it through the pass at the top of the mountain.  (The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic had been canceled due to impassable roads.)  However, we made it through, although we did see where one unfortunate driver went off the side of the mountain into the canyon.  As I explained in a previous blog, there are very few guardrails due to the snowplows needing to be able to push the snow-mass off the edge of the mountain.

Our bus driver / tour guide, Jim, was extremely knowledgeable (he is an avid outdoor enthusiast and teaches outdoor survival, etc at the local college) so taking the bus up the mountain was advantageous in learning about the region.

We were able to spend a little time in Silverton before time to board the train - we followed our tour guide's recommendation and ate at "Mustache's Food and Bar" - delicious and quaint - including our waitress who wore a mustache!!!  Silverton's year round population is only 500, so one can only imagine how they rely on tourist's to sustain income.  Very nice shops and restaurants.

We had originally chosen seats on the train in the open gondola, but when we heard the forecast, we were able to exchange the seats for an indoor coach.  However, the seats were the worst seats on the train for viewing the scenery, the first car behind the tender and a boxcar - and to top it off, we were seated in the first row.  After about 10 minutes, we decided to see if there were any other seats available - which there were plenty.  Believe it or not, we chose an open air gondola (it actually sleeted a little!) and LOVED it.  Steve took over 200 pics and several videos - he was in his element!!!

The trip back on the train lasted 3 1/2 hours.  Needless to say, we were cold and ready to call it a day!

Quiz - out of these animals, which one did we NOT see today?
prairie dogs - fox - elk (herd of 100) - geese - bear - mule deer
Answer - we saw All of them!!  Such a wonderful day in God's creation!

Until next time ~
the happy travelers  

Day 4 Ouray It's cold! Two days ago it was in the 80's here, but now it is in the 30's - 50-s. Today we explored town - still had fun in sprite of the cold. Ouray is known as the Little Switzerland of the West, very quaint and beautiful. First stop while too cold to do anything else - a museum that has anything and everything indigenous to the history of the area. You could spend days researching and exploring - both Steve and I found it to be fascinating. After the museum, we thought it had warmed enough to visit Box Canyon - but just as we arrived, it started snowing! However, it was still beautiful! We then drove out to Telluride - the playground of the rich!!! Steve rode a tram to the top of the mountain and was able to get good pics. (I didn't ride - still feeling a little under the weather due to altitude sickness.) After getting back into Ouray, Steve still didn't have his fill of adventure, so he hiked to a falls, the Cascades. When he got back to our motel, he agreed he had enough for the day! One of the best ways to lessen the effects of altitude sickness is to drink, drink, drink. The motel where we are staying here in Ouray has natural spring water, which is very good, but we have drunk ourselves to the max! Guess we will just have to keep swigging. Tomorrow we go to Silverton, which is even higher than here. Steve is really looking forward to tomorrow - the trip on the Silverton to Durango Narrow Guage Railroad. We just found out that the Million Dollar Highway that we would taking to Durango to get the train will be closed for a the annual Iron Horse Bike Race, (a race between cyclists and the train) so we will have to detour into Telluride which adds a considerable amount of time. Just means getting up earlier! So, goodnight! Pictures coming later

Royal Gorge Bridge and Black Canyon of the Gunnisson. Today is a heavy travel day so we scheduled only 2 "points of interest" on our itinerary. Royal Gorge is breath taking - I was able to enjoy the excursion only because the railing was chest high! The bridge is dynamic - as well as see-through!! The bottom of the gorge is 1700+ feet below. An excursion train runs along the river at the bottom, as well as rafting in the river itself. A "thrill ? ride" catapults 3 riders at a time out over the canyon. The riders' screams could be heard long before the riders were in view!!! I just can't imagine... Actually enjoying the journey! Black Canyon of the Gunnisson. It was snowing when we arrived!!! It actually began to snow as we were nearing the Continental Divide before reaching Gunnisson. We decided to make the journey down to the bottom of the Canyon anyways, and were rewarded by clear weather and unbelievable scenery. The road down to bottom is 16% grade and descends 2000+ feet. There are minimal guardrails due to the snowplows needing to be able to push the snow-mass "off the mountain" (according to a local). Seemed more dangerous than Guatemala due to these drop offs are sheer rock, no brushy growth to half-way slow the tumble! We made it into Ouray by late afternoon - rather chilly - low 40's, upper 30's! Ouray is simply gorgeous, nestled in a valley among towering mountains. Looks like a very beautiful place to explore! Until next time ... Pike's Peak or Bust (-ed!) Self-portrait at the bottom of the Canyon. A view from the rim of the Canyon.

Day 1.  After a very easy flight into Denver via Frontier we picked up our rental car - not the one we had reserved, but we were somehow talked into "upgrading" to a mini-van.  More room - more power - better view!

We made our way up the interstate to Estes Park, then into Rocky Mountain National Forest, into an area known for wildlife.  Our only spotting was of a Pika, a cute little marmot type critter.  But the mountains, oh my!  The word that keeps coming to mind is MAJESTIC.


We then came back down into Boulder, where we met our friends, Jerry and Gloria, for lunch.  They are also vacationing in the area.  We had allot of fun with them - and had delicious fish tacos at a nice restaurant in the cobblestone section of Boulder.  Very lovely.

My sweet hubby then obliged me for our next stop - Celestial Seasonings Tea Company.  I know - don't rub it in too much, especially when you see the pic of him wearing the mandatory hair-net AND beard-net for the tour!!!  (He wouldn't let me send that pic, but it does exist!) Fascinating tour of the process of tea production beginning to end.

Enough for a day - we didn't make it to Focus on the Family!

Day 2.  We had considered getting up early for viewing the sun rise from Garden of the Gods - but our alarm didn't go off.  Perhaps because it wasn't set!  First stop - Garden of the Gods.  It is hard to describe the beauty of the rock formations, made all the more spectacular by being able to get up close and personal. One has the feeling that this is truly where God comes to refresh his spirit!  If He indeed does such a thing.


We then drove up to Pike's Peak.  Oh my.  The day before, Steve had developed a headache when we reached ~ 8,000 feet in elevation, but I had no adverse effects other than the expected shortness of breath.  So I thought we were good to go.  When we hit ~ 11,000 feet, I began to feel several of the symptoms of altitude sickness; headache, nausea, dizziness, racing heart, but I insisted we continue to the peak because we were so close.  The pic of me in front of the sign is forced by sheer will power - right after that I started to become disoriented, and we knew we had to quickly descend.  Therefore, we did not get any pics of the view from the peak.  Thankfully the effects subsided at ~ 8,000 feet.  But we have proof we made it to the peak!

Next stop - Focus on the Family.  Quite impressive, especially the fact that the whole operation is running debt free!  Touring the operations certainly helps the work of Focus to become more personal.  Guess I would have to say that being a counselor (they have 13!) for Focus would be a dream job!

We did not make it to Manitou Cliff Dwellings - if we do not make it to these, we will be seeing other cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde.  Steve had said as we were starting up to Pike's Peak - "Pike's Peak or bust!"  And I felt like we had gone bust at the end of the day!

Tomorrow we visit Royal Gorge and Black Canyon of the Gunnisson.  We stay in Ouray.  Hopefully the motel there will have Internet connection so I can continue our blog.  This is actually enjoyable!

View from our motel window.  Pike's Peak.

Has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.


Check out the climber at the top - also one 3/4 of the way up.