.... and other Bucket List trips!
Welcome to Dave and Joyce’s blog. This blog was initially created to capture our Great Loop adventure. However, it has now transformed into our “Bucket List adventures” blog. Many people followed our Great Loop blog and have told us how much they enjoyed it. That somewhat surprised us … and totally pleased us. So we decided to continue the blog with post Great Loop trips … i.e. “Bucket List”. We hope you enjoy our new adventures!
A note about navigating the blog: Since the beginning, the blog was an active journal, updated daily whenever Internet service was available. The latest information is always posted at the top of the blog page to make it easier for viewers to see our daily/weekly progress. However, when viewing it later, the format is a little awkward. For example, to see the pre- Great Loop blog, scroll down to the archive section and click on the last link July 2010 . After the page is displayed scroll down to the bottom and begin viewing by scrolling back to the top. This will give you a better sense of the trip since it is the true time sequence of our travels … we hope this makes sense … Enjoy!
Cell: 317-403-0128
Email: davejoyceajohnson@gmail.com
Jane and Larry took us on a tour today ... you should be able to identify where ... if not, shame on you:-)
Big clue here
Many streets like this one ... and way too many shops!
Tomorrow we start our trek home. We plan on an easy two day trip. We had a bunch of fun, but are ready for home:-)
Big hint ... Jane grew up in this town and was a great tour guide.
Inside a Cathedral-Basilica
Background Cathedra-Basilica
Many thanks to Jane and Larry. What great hosts!
After breakfast (scrumptious special french toast) we walked the neighborhood. Above image is behind Larry and Jane's home ... wetland (swamp). Across the river in front of the home is more wetland. The whole neighborhood was wetland and had to be filled in with unbelievable amounts of soil.
What a beautiful river! Parts of it reminded us of the ICW ... feels like we are doing the loop again.
No the picture to the right is not the Ocean. It is the Maurepas Lake. However, you can get to the Gulf from here. It is the route Jane and Larry took beginning their "Loop Journey".
The captain turn the boat around and 8 miles later we were back to our favorite resort ... having cocktails on the deck while waiting for the Chef to prepare another gourmet dinner ... hey, it doesn't get any better than this!
In the afternoon we boarded "Barvarian Cream" for a cruise down the Tickfaw River. Dave took the above picture of the front of their home as we began our cruise.
Captain Larry doing all the work while the rest of us relaxing and enjoying the views ... well maybe a little gabbing as well.
Tomorrow we plan to take "Barbarian Cream" on a tour of the river. Larry and Jane actually began and finished the "Great Loop" from the dock behind their home. Anyone looking for a nice Great Loop boat, talk to Larry. He has her for sale. Tune in tomorrow ... we plan on publishing lots of pictures!
After mass, we walked to the historic Market Square, one of the largest Mexican markets outside of Mexico. Now here is the breaking news ... Joyce didn't buy anything!
Tomorrow we head for Killian, LA (close to New Orleans) to visit our friends Jane and Larry Pfeifer.
We walked our legs off today but first we took a "Rio San Antonio Cruise". It was fun and informative.
And of course you can't go to San Antonio without visiting the Alamo.
We decided to located the San Fernando Cathedral, where we plan to attend church on Sunday. Of course we got lost .... again! The town has streets running in funny angles through out, but we finally found it. A beautiful place. We are glad we scoped it out .... otherwise we would never make it to mass on time.
Of course you have to do the River Walk until you drop. So many neat restaurants to chose from!
Leaving Fredricksburg this morning we stopped at the LBJ National Historical Park and toured the LBJ Ranch. Above Joyce stands behind the "Texas White House" and to the right she stands in front of the one room school house LBJ attended at age 4. The picture below the school is a restored Air Force One aircraft.
We enjoyed the history and then headed to our next destination San Antonio, TX. We checked in at the Hyatt Regency on the river walk. Talk about a room with a view. Joyce is looking out our room window and can see the river walk, San Antonio River and tour boats as they float by ... we are anxious to check out this place!
Up early on the road by 6am, we saw a beautiful sunrise. It wasn't so beautiful a few minutes later when we had to drive directly into it:-( We arrived in Fredricksburg around 1pm, went to a winery purchased some wine then walked a little in town ... enough to get Joyce very excited about tomorrows shopping adventure ... over 150 shops/boutiques!
Plan on a German dinner tonight at Friedhelm's Restaurant. Then early to bed ... Joyce needs her rest ... I'm betting she can hit at least half the shops:-)
After a large breakfast we headed for Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It was a pretty drive after avoiding a head-on collision. An idiot in a big pickup truck pulls out from behind a semi, sees us but kept on coming. choosing between the pickup and semi was a no-brainer. Dave steered to the right and of course so did the pickup. He passed on our right side while the semi passed on the left ... anybody have a roll of toilet paper?
The drive was nice after that. Above left we drove by the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Once to the caverns, they were something to behold. We took the easy trail, The Big Room, and spend 1 1/2 hours marveling at the sights. Took many pictures inside the caverns and the above was the best ... got to get a new cameraman.
Tomorrow we head Fredricksburg, TX which is a German settlement.
Left this morning for Deming, NM and stopped at a rest area in Arizona for lunch. Neat place with lots of rocks. After checking into our room in Deming, we drove 35 miles to Palomas, Mexico. Not much there and at the time it looked like we were the only gringos in town. We didn't spend much time in town ... lot of questionable Mexicanos ... but Dave got a kick out of old American cars with no license plates ... guess that is optional in Mexico.
Tomorrow we head for Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
This afternoon we did something relaxing because both of our thighs were sore. We forgot to mention that part of the Tomcar thing was to visit a Indian ruins .... only 8 or so steps up ... right! The "steps" were part of this little cliff and were rocks/boulders 3 ft. or so high. Hate to admit it, but both of us needed a little help:-( We made it, but our legs are sore.
Above, Joyce on the "Phoenix", a 65 ft. cruise boat on Lake Pleasant. It is the second largest man-made lake in Arizona, 10,000 acres with average depth of 80 ft. Deepest part of the lake 260 feet. Same size as our Lake Monroe, but a lot deeper. Tomorrow we head for New Mexico ... with a stop in Mexico.
We took an Sonoran Desert Off-Road adventure tour this morning and it was awesome. Our vehicle is called a Tomcar, a highly capable, military grade, off-roading machine. We could not believe it could go the places we traveled. True independent 4 wheel suspension (each tire can lift up/down 17 inches). However, we did manage to break it ... lost a drive belt, but the guide was able to replace it ... good thing because we were 2 hours into the trip in the middle of the desert. Above picture is Joyce and Dave with their Tomcar in front of beautiful Saguaro cacti.
These mighty warriors go over boulders, up and down steep banks ... some which you swear you are going to roll the vehicle over, but because of the unique suspension, you glide through with ease ... well, relative ease:-)
We had three machines ahead of us, the first one being the guide. He took us places you couldn't get to without one of these vehicles.
After 3 1/2 hours of eating dust we were back where we started, the Roadrunner Restaurant & Saloon where bikers and cowboys get along very well. Above Joyce waiting for a beer and sandwich. What a day! Dave thinks his forearms may be sore tomorrow ... no power steering in these babies and they tend to jerk the wheel hard from time to time.
Note: We passed on the firearms Adventure where you can fire live ammo, from automatic M4s, Clock 17 handguns, and AK47s ... talk about the wild, wild West!
Tomorrow we might make it a pool day and visit one of the two swimming pools at the resort ... Dave votes for the adult pool. It is smaller but quieter (no children) ... but most important it has a pool side bar:-)
So, what did we do celebrating our 53rd wedding anniversary? We got high! Like in hot air balloon high. Above Dave actually helped inflate the balloon by holding one side of it until it could stand on its own. Thank God he didn't share his observation until we later landed. He noticed a little wear and tear on the lower part of the balloon. It actually had little rips in the fabric. He figured this company is very reputable and it was "probably" safe ... and it was:-)
Above Joyce observing another hot air balloon soaring over the desert.
What a nice anniversary ending in a desert champaign brunch.
Yesterday we headed for Peoria, AZ where we have a condo reserved for 10 days, however made a side tripe to Sedona. This place is as beautiful as everybody said it would be. A shopper's delight. Above a delighted Joyce!
We arrived in Peoria around 3 pm and were delighted with the large condo. It is only one bedroom but all of the rooms are huge. A combined living room with kitchen has a gas range (our favorite) and access to an outside patio. One of the bathrooms is part of the bedroom and has a Jacuzzi tub, the other bath has a shower ... we are going to love living here for ten days. Today we are going to attend a vendor presentation on all the exciting things we can do in this area (i.e. exciting ways to spend money) and then go shopping for food ... Dave is bitting at the bit to use the gas grill behind our patio.
After shopping we decided on the above restaurant for lunch because of the outside seating and wonderful view (and the refreshing vapor spray). We were glad that we decided to share a sandwich/fries that was almost too much food.
Today we went to the Visitor Center that had an IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon. Not only was it informational, telling about early explorers, but also extremely thrilling. Riding the rapids and soaring like a bird made both of us light headed and dizzy ... fun!
So we decided to get creative with what images we publish. Guest what Joyces thumb is pointing to ... if you guessed the (muddy) Colorado River you win the door prize.
We took the shuttle bus from the welcome center and did the South Rim. We stopped at many look-out points, took many pictures in order to frustrate ourselves later choosing which ones to put on the blog:-)
Above Joyce is pointing to nothing in particular, except an extremely deep (and scary) canyon.
It's been a lot of fun seeing all of the beautiful canyons ... but tomorrow we are moving on to see more of the wonderful wild west.
We left Tropic, UT this morning traveling to Tusayan, AZ. Prior to arriving at the hotel, we drove through the Grand Canyon National Park stopped at a couple of scenic viewing stations. Above Joyce looking at Desert View ... now we understand what they mean by "Grand".
Above Joyce overlooking Grandview Point.
Tomorrow we will see more of the park ... maybe take in a tour.
We forgot to mention yesterday but the shuttle driver pointed something out to us on the way back to the Welcome Center. He pointed to three (or four) little specs on a sheer cliff (don't know how high) that were canyoneers about 1/3 of the way to the top. He told us this was day 2 for them and they should reach the top the next day. They carry an 80 lb. pack pack with water, food, porta-pot and a portable 3X6 cot to sleep in. The driver used some unfamiliar terms, but basically they can't hammer in cleats for their climbing ropes because it is sandstone and it would not hold. Instead they find and follow small cracks in the wall where they wedge in hardware for their ropes ... amazing! We can hardly look over the edges of cliffs in protected viewing areas without getting dizzy ... what a crazy sport.
Today we drove 86 miles to the Zion National Park. It is amazing that all park canyons give you something different to look at. In the Zion Park you see it from the bottom up. After stopping at the visitor center we rode the free shuttle through the canyon, wide eyed looking at tall canyon cliffs on both sides of the road. At one stop we decided to take the River Walk to the Narrows. It is a 1 mile walk to the Narrows following the Virgin River. After getting to the end of the trail, the canyon walls begin to squeeze together forming a narrow canyon. Here is where the amateurs stop and the experienced hikers/climber continue ... of course we stopped and walked back. Above Joyce stands near the Virgin River. Top right Joyce and Dave at the end of the trail near the Narrows.
Ok, let's talk about the trip to Zion on State Hwy 9. We thought the Rocky Mountain Trail Ridge Road was a "white knuckle" experience ... it was nothing compared to Hwy 9. A 12 mile ride down a twisting, turning road with either 1 foot guard rails or none at all, looking at sheer cliff drop-offs ... let the fun begin ... not!!! We also went through several tunnels (engineering marvel) one of them being 1 mile long ... and lucky Dave got to lead a string of traffic both coming and going.
On a more pleasant note we drove by the Red Canyon State Park, but did not stop. We did however drive through a couple of natural arches ... how pretty.
Tomorrow we plan to get some laundry done and drive into Bryce Cannon City. Not a lot to it but looks real western ... and besides that Joyce hasn't shopped for awhile. Then we will plan our trip to the Grand Canyon ... and be done with canyons!
Words cannot describe how beautiful this place is, so we are not going to try ... amazing place!
The most difficult part of this blog is choosing the pictures. There are so many spectacular views it is impossible to capture them all.
One of the more interesting sites is the "Natural Bridge" (bottom right with Joyce). It is really an arch formed by water rushing through it.
Tomorrow we travel to Zion National Park.
We left Moab this morning heading for Bryce Canyon National Park. Many breath taking scenic pull offs on I70. We stopped for several then decided it we were going to get to our hotel today we better forgo the visual candy and keep trucking west. Above we are standing at one of the pull offs called Black Dragon Canyon ... the picture doesn't do it justice.
Before we went to our motel in Tropic, UT, we stopped by the park welcome center to watch a film and scope out our trip tomorrow. The top right picture is where we pulled over after leaving the park on our way to the motel. It's impossible to describe the beauty of this country. Right is a view from the front of our room with white/pink mountains in the background. We plan to be in this area for four more nights. More later!
Today we enjoyed the Arches National Park. Appropriately named for all of the arches and strange rock formations. To the right Joyce stands in front of a tall peak. The image below, circled in back is a canyoneer ... i.e. a climber rappelling down the tall peak that Joyce is standing in front of ... amazing! Our timing was great as we got there in time to see the last guy come down.
Joyce standing in front of the Balance Rock.
Joyce in front of an arch. Arch, bridge, window, hoodoo, spire, tower ... these are all descriptive names given to sandstone features visible in the park and elsewhere in the southwest.
The above picture is outside the park and is named the Colorado Riverway. It is State rd. 128 and follows the Colorado River for 16 miles through a large cannon. It was an awesome drive.
Today was a long day. We left Grand Lake heading for Moab, Utah. Along I70 we stopped at a rest area in Glenwood Canyon (above image). Amazing views! It is a carefully engineered stretch of I70 through the 12 1/2 mile canyon high above the Colorado River.
It was about an hour ride, but well worth it. Spectacular views!
Arriving at Moab around 3:01 pm (true ... check in time is 3:00 ... Captain/Master Driver hit ETA right on target), we headed for the Welcome center. We were told it might be a good idea to go the the Caynonlands National Park today because rain is predicted for the next several days.
Tomorrow we plan to visit the Arches National Park. It may be raining, but we are told that the wet stone takes on another look that is beautiful.
We left Estes Park this morning around 8:00 am and arrived in Grand Lake around 9:45 am. We made good time driving over the mountains, but without incident. We are well into the trip when a low tire pressure indicator lights up. Dave finds a place to pull over and thinks it might be the right front ... but didn't look that bad ... besides where are you going to get air at 12,000 ft. elevation? So we continue on and later the indicator goes off ... temperature change, altitude ... who knows? Kind of reminiscent of Joysea and all of her false alarms:-)
The town of Grand Lake is a quaint little town with board walks and shops. Not nearly as big as Estes Park, but plenty big enough for Joyce to shop. The lake itself is a deep, clear, glacial lake and is the biggest natural lake in the state.
Tomorrow we head to Moab, Utah where we will visit several national parks, including the Arches.
Today we left the driving to our open air green jeep guide Bob. He took us on the Trail Ridge Road which is the highest continuous highway in North America (12,183 ft.). The 3 hour tour turned out to be 4+ hour history/geology lesson ... ole Bob likes to talk and we enjoyed his lessons:-). We went up all the way to the continental divide before turning back to Estes Park. It was quite a ride with many spectacular views. Tomorrow Dave gets a turn at driving this road in its entirety all the way to Grand Lake, where we will stay for 1 night. He is not too worried, but knows that it will be a "white knuckle" 3 or so hour ride. Lots of turns and many mile spans of no-guard-rail excitement to navigate.
Yesterday we (Joyce) did some shopping in Estes Park. All you shoppers will love this place ... ok, now for the fun stuff. We got up this morning and knew it was going to be a great day seeing a rainbow. Not only that, we saw more wild life from our parking lot than the park. Before breakfast we heard a lot of noise ... Bull elks can be very loud and anxious during the rut season. The big guy upper right, had a herd of cow elk that he was guarding. So after snapping some pictures we go to breakfast in the hotel. Minding our business in the restaurant facing the window we see two mule deer crossing the highway and another herd of elk across the highway. Who needs the park! But we go anyway ... and glad we did. This is the peak week for the Aspen with their yellow/red leaves ... how pretty.
Tomorrow we are taking a jeep tour of the park ... this is an awesome place!
We decide to take a small hike to Bear Lake ... did this without too much effort. However, the hike to Nymph Lake was another story. Only 1/2 mile with some incline and no oxygen it was like walking 5 miles with many stops to catch our breath. So, the photographer had to attempt something he never did before (because you know who didn't make it to the lake) ... took a selfie! Oxygen tank wanted, would have paid big bucks for one:-)
This afternoon we arrived in Estes Park and checked into our room at Hotel Estes. We have beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains. Above Joyce in our room ... it really is her.
Above is proof of Joyce standing outside our room:-) Today we will explore Estes Park ... i.e. visit the cutesy shops and tomorrow we will head for the Rocky Mountain National Park which is only a couple of miles from here.
