PICTURES
Full-Time RVers
January 2009 - December 2009
Left Sacramento after Christmas with the family. We Headed south to spend the winter in the southwest. Looking for warm days and blue skies. We traveled through Arizona, New Mexico, and then north through Colorado, Utah, Idaho and on to Washington. We did the Olympic Peninsula loop before heading south ending the year back in Sacramento.
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Blue line on map above shows our 2009 travels
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Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California - January 2009 |
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We took about a 30 mile Jeep Trail drive through the desert in Anza Borrego Desert State Park |
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Slab City, Salton Sea, California - January 2009 |
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*** Pictures around Slab City (be sure to read the Travel Stories and check the links for more information about Slab City) *** |
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Some Slab City "art work" |
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"Salvation Mountain" |
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Slab City Pet Cemetery |
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Voo Doo Tank!!! (read Travel Stories) |
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El Golfo, Mexico -- February 2009 |
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We spent a wonderful week in El Golfo. The RV Park was on the Sea of Cortez. Looking west across the Sea was The Baja Peninsula. We had some beautiful sunsets...
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...and looking east, rainbows |
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Dave was you guide from the RV Park. He gave us a walking tour of the town. We had lunch and returned on the beach. |
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Scenes from around town and on the beach. |
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Scenes from around town and on the beach. |
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Entrance to RV Park on left. On the right, Federales checking for guns and drugs on the way home . |
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GYPSY JOURNAL RALLY - Casa Grande, AZ - February 2009 |
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Be sure to read about these pictures on the Travel Stories page... |
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LOST DUTCHMAN STATE PARK, AZ - February 2009 |
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In In the shadow of the Supervision Mountains near Apache Junction, AZ |
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Old Congress Pioneer Cemetery 1887 - March 2009 |
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Congress is a small town on Highway 89 about half way between Phoenix and Prescott, AZ North Ranch Escapee Park is just 5 miles south of Congress. It is our favorite place to stay in the winter. |
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Roper Lake State Park, AZ - April 2009 |
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Roper Lake State Park is located 6 miles south of Safford in Graham County in southeast Arizona. In 1974, under a management agreement with Arizona Game and Fish Commission, Arizona State Parks opened Roper Lake State Park to facilitate outdoor activities including hiking, camping, swimming, and fishing.
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A wide variety of wetland birds including common merganser, Mexican duck (mallard), egrets, great blue heron, least bittern, and American coot can be seen, along with yellow-headed, Brewer’s and red-winged blackbirds, belted kingfisher, Virginia rail, sora, and Gambel’s quail.
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| White Sands National Monument, NM - May 2009 | ||
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 Like No Place Else on Earth Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here, dunes have engulfed 275 square miles of desert creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield.
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| Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, MN - May 2009 | ||
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Once, thriving American Indian trade communities of Tiwa and Tompiro speaking Puebloans inhabited this remote area of central New Mexico. |
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Early in the 17th-century Spanish Franciscans visited the area and found it ripe for their missionary efforts |
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| Acoma Pueblo "Sky City", NM - May, 2009 | ||
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Acoma Pueblo is built atop a sheer-walled, 367-foot sandstone bluff in a valley studded with sacred, towering monoliths. Since 1150 A.D., Acoma Pueblo has earned the reputation as the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America. The mesa-top settlement is known worldwide for its unique art and rich culture. |
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| The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - June 2009 | ||
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TThe Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is hidden away in a little-known corner of the southern Rocky Mountains, and is a precious historic artifact of the American West. Built in 1880 and essentially unchanged since, the C&TSRR is the most outstanding and best known example of steam-era mountain railroading in North America. |
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AMERICA’S HIGHEST & LONGEST COAL FIRED, STEAM OPERATED,NARROW-GAUGE RAILROAD. |
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Round trip included lunch at
Osier, CO |
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http://www.ghostdepot.com/rg/mainline/san juan branch/osier.htm |
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On the left..."Watch out for those rocks." On the right... "There goes Ruth on a train ride."
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Chimney Rock Archaeological Area, Colorado - June 2009 |
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| http://www.chimneyrockco.org/mainnew.htm | ||
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Chimney Rock is a San Juan National Forest Archaeological Area located in Colorado between Durango and Pagosa Springs and managed for archaeological protection, public interpretation, and education. |
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360 degree view from the top at almost 10,000 feet. |
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Guided tours are available for entry into the upper mesa/pueblo area. After our tour we returned back down to the Visitor's Center where we enjoyed watching the local "wildlife".
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Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak, Colorado - June 2009 |
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| http://www.cograilway.com/AboutPikesPeak.htm | ||
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Garden of the Gods is located in Colorado Springs at the base of Pikes Peak. It is a remarkable 1,360-acre park is so full of weird and surreal red sandstone rock formations that it looks like Mother Nature teamed with Salvador Dali in forming it. |
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At an altitude of 14,110 feet above sea level Pikes Peak is the most visited mountain in North America and the second most visited mountain in the world behind Japan's Mount Fuji, it forms a stunning backdrop for Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods. |
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Even in June it is still very cold at 14,000 feet. There was over 6 feet of snow on the ground. The geocache at the top was buried and not possible to get to! |
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Views from the top of Colorado Springs, CO, 8,000 feet below. |
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| Goblin Valley State Park, Utah - June 2009 | ||
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Wind and water have carved fantastic and unique goblin-like sculptures out of rock, creating an outdoor playground that inspires the imagination. Numerous rocks and coves offer unlimited walking, exploring, or hiking opportunities. |
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Golden Spike National Historic Site, Utah - July 2009 |
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May 10, 1869 the Union and Central Pacific Railroads joined their rails at Promontory Summit. Golden Spike National Historic Site commemorates this incredible accomplishment of this nation's first transcontinental railroad. |
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Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho - July 2009 |
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The Monument and Preserve encompass three major lava fields and about 400 square miles of sagebrush steppe grasslands to cover a total area of 1,117 square miles. All three lava fields lie along the Great Rift of Idaho. There are excellent examples of almost every variety of basaltic lava as well as tree molds (cavities left by lava-incinerated trees), lava tubes (a type of cave), and many other volcanic features. |
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In addition to the amazing lava rock formations, there were wonderful wildflowers surviving in this barren environment. |
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Olympic Peninsula, Washington - October/November 2009 |
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For four weeks we toured the Olympic Peninsula with out friends Jim and Cynthia. We had a grand time circling clockwise starting at Long Beach and ending in Bremerton. The weather was outstanding, warm and sunny days the whole time. In addition to geocaching our way around we saw many beautiful sights. We drove out to Neah Bay and the northwest corner of continental USA. In Port Angeles we pigged out at the Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival. http://www.crabfestival.org/ |
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Washington State shoreline... |
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Above pictures are taken at Cape Flattery, the northwest corner of continual USA |
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************************ On Top of Hurricane Ridge ************************* |
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