The
Nomadic Neuman's
May Travel Log
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to the "AZ relatives"
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HAPPY
28th
BIRTHDAY
Emily & Laurel!
Devon &
Laurel getting ready to party!
Tuesday
May 6, 2003
Even the
mallard duck couple at DeAnza came to our site to say goodbye!
I will miss our grand children & my walks with Rufus, but he has
a good home with Devon & Laurel.
Bye Bye San Diego!
See you in December for Laurel's graduation from Cal Western Law School!
May
7, 2003
OUT OF GAS!
Just outside
of Brawley, CA
What a bummer,
when we pulled over the road tilted so much that our gas hose emptied
& the motor cut out.
We still had over an eighth of a tank, but it wasn't enough to keep
the engine running at that angle.
But Dan says he learned alot, so I guess it was worth the 4 hour wait
in this desolate part of CA!
I
got to drive the rest of that day while Dan navigated with the GPS.
What fun it is to drive this 40' diesel pusher. It almost feels like we're
floating down the road.
And we sure
did find a beautiful spot along the Colorado River to boon-dock!
(boon-docking means to find a spot, pull over and camp for free)
May
9, 2003 Prescott, AZ
This is Willow
Lake just outside of town. The lake was just a 15 minute hike from our
campsite. Awesome!
That evening, Dan's good friend George & his girlfriend Cheryl came
over for a visit.
On Saturday, we drove around the outskirts of town to see the sights,
then we
went into the center of town for the Art's & Crafts Festival on the
Prescott County Courthouse lawn.
Lorrie & Russ drove down from Mund's Park, Kathy & Chuck drove up from Cave Creek and we met for brunch at a cute farm/restaurant that Uncle Howard had been to also during an exchange from Kathy's to Lorrie's on his last visit to AZ.
I hadn't seen Lorrie for about 15 years! I'd never met her husband nor she mine.
The visit was short, but as always, seeing family again always brings a kindred feeling and good memories.
Even
though this sign
would have you think there's no room for a 40' coach,
the parking lot was huge. We pulled in along the edge and even had room to open up all three slide outs so that everyone got to see our home full size!
.........
We all had
memories of Leonard & Ruie Farnsworth's Farm in East Brookfield seeing
this tractor.
(Kathy sure had fun climbing on it!)
Sedona's
"Red Rock"
country is awesome
as you can see from
this great picture!
SEDONA, AZ
We had a wonderful afternoon & evening driving around the area and watching how the color of the rocks changed as the sun set.
Monday
May 12, 2003
Williams, AZ
(30 miles southwest of Flagstaff)
These are called
the San Francisco Peaks, still snow capped in May!
We headed north
towards Flagstaff and found a great rv park in our Passport America Book.
With member discount, it costs only $13 a night for full hook-up! Time
to catch up on laundry, bills, emails & web projects.
We found out about a foraging area known for elk crossings so we drove outside of town about 10 miles in search of a glimpse.
What
an experience!
I love seeing animals in the wild like this. It's truly a blessing to
have
this opportunity to see such sights.
We
didn't get too close & I'm using our new tele-photo lens for the first
time,
so the pictures aren't that great, but the experience was one I'll never
forget.
Then we saw this gorgeaous sunset.....what a great day we had.
We drove around the area and discovered some gorgeous views.
We visited
all three of the scenic sights on the
sign at the right.
Tuesday
May 13, 2003
The
wildlife is so exciting to see. The elk were so abundant we stopped at
least 5 times to watch them.
Breathtaking
views!
This
section is dedicated to my Dad, Durward Farnsworth.
With all the traveling he's done in his lifetime,
this is one place he wanted to make it to but hasn't.
The lasting
works of the CCC is an accomplishment generations will enjoy the beauty
of.
(Civilian Conservation Corps of the New Deal program in the mid 1930's)
In 1935 more than 500,000 young men were working in national forests,
state parks, and national parks & monuments.
"Save the soil, save the forest, save the young men" was the
byword of the day.
...............
Left photo
is taken from Grandview Point which is the original viewpoint, elevation
7399 ft.
Right photo is taken from Desert View on the East Rim. The "Painted
Desert" goes off into the background.
The weather was perfect.
Warm days, cool nights.
Below
is lookout tower at Desert View Point on the East Rim of the canyon.
Built
in the 1930's by a woman architect along with several other outbuildings
here at the Grand Canyon Park.
Shown is just
a sample of the artwork inside the tower, painted by a Hopi Indian Artist.
Although
it was great to have a glimpse of this coyote in the wilds,
it was also disturbing to have all the passing cars stop & photograph
him. I felt sorrow for the animal.
.............
And the raven
on the right reminded
me of several books I've read about Indian lore and animal familiars.
In an instant, I would switch to a bird's body just to be able to soar
throught the sky &
freely gaze the earth below.
At Hopi Point,
we watched the sunset with reverence.
Then we went back to our wonderful motor home parked at a site right inside
the park for a home-cooked dinner & a relaxing evening!
May
25, 2003
From Grand Canyon to Flagstaff, AZ
.....
Flagstaff is
situated right below the San Francisco Peaks. It was a beautiful drive
on Rt.180.
You can see the devastation recent fires caused on some of the pine forests
in the surrounding area.
Monday
May 26
...
...
We met Russ
& Lorrie at a quaint pizza place called "Oregano's" and
had another wonderful visit
while feasting on an incredible "oregano's specialty salad"
and a totally filling pizza.
After
lunch, on our way out
of town, we visited Walnut Canyon National Monument just outside of Flagstaff.
It was a hike well worth the effort.....the cliff dwellings were incredible to see.
As
you can see above & below, some of the dwellings have been reconstructed
while others have been left as is.
...
Hundreds
of these cave dwellings were scattered amongst the surrounding hills of
Walnut Canyon.
...
...
Many Thanks to Lorrie & Russ for telling us about this wonderful site!
End
of May
(Sorry
for the delay....too many places to go, people to see!)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
May 26, 2003
...
After
the horrific attack on NYC on 9/11,
The Oklahoma City National Monument is a sad reminder
that terrorism has been and still is very much alive in the beautiful
country of ours.
The 168 chairs stand as a poignant reminder of the lives lost.
By night, the glass bases illuminate as beacons of light.
...
.....
The renovation of the historic "Bricktown District" is impressive. Although Dan & I
didn't go for a water taxi ride, we did enjoy strolling along the canal seeing a
variety of eclectic businesses establishing themselves.
May
27, 2003
Crystal Bridge,
Oklahoma City
...
...
This was an
incredibly beautiful afternoon walking through the greenhouse.
..
..
Oklahoma
City, OK
This was the
first time either Dan or I had visited a cattle auction stockyard.
We walked on the "catwalk" (middle below) to view the herds
before arriving in the auction arena.
It was huge & quite interesting to see the process ranchers went though
to sell their herds.
On the right below, you can see this one steer tried to escape, to no
avail.
..
..
Branson
is a very
scenic area, but in my opinion, the commercialism
of the place really
overpowers the beauty.
Entertainment
is the
main focus. Judging
by the multitude of
"Las Vegas style" clubs along the main streets,
the shows do seem to attract tourist from
around the country.
In
this "5 & 10",
items were so marked up it was amazing that tourists bought into it.
It was nostalgic
& a fun store to walk around in.
It
had to have been one of the busiest places in the downtown shopping area.
June 2003