Down South
Scenes from our days in DC
Modern Art in DC
Scenes from Skyline Drive, Virginia
A waterfall at the end of a hike off Skyline Drive
Memories of The Dukes of Hazzard and Boss Hogg
Charlottesville and Cider with a Rosie view
More huge views from the Blue Ridge Highway
Hiking in the Smoky Mountains National Park (and an elk)
Our first campfire
Getting up close to the locals
One foot in each camp
The Finale of the Dolly Parton Great Stampede Show. You had to be there.
A spectacular view from the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains
And a bear
Crikey
And finally, where are the other two?
That’s us up to date. Next stop is Nashville for a couple of nights and then onto Memphis as we head for Hot Springs National Park. Before we ship out tomorrow I am hoping to run a local 8km race; I’ve never run an 8k before so it’s bound to be a PB.
4 May 2018
Two weeks since I had good enough WiFi to update the blog and we’re now down in Sevierville, Tennessee – birth place of Dolly Parton – and getting set to turn right and start heading west.
It would take a long time to write what’s happened since New York but in a nutshell – electrical issue solved, puncture, hit the road on 21 May and headed to Washington DC, couple of days in the city then carried on down. We’ve “done” New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee; but not in that order.
We’ve seen mountains, hundreds of them as far as the eye can see, waterfalls, Bald Eagles, Bears, an Elk, a snake, and a lizard. On the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s quite a few thousand worth (not necessarily in chronological order, but you get the gist).
Hitting the road and our first night in the RV
Scenes from our days in DC
Modern Art in DC
Scenes from Skyline Drive, Virginia
A waterfall at the end of a hike off Skyline Drive
Memories of The Dukes of Hazzard and Boss Hogg
Charlottesville and Cider with a Rosie view
More huge views from the Blue Ridge Highway
Hiking in the Smoky Mountains National Park (and an elk)
Our first campfire
Getting up close to the locals
One foot in each camp
The Finale of the Dolly Parton Great Stampede Show. You had to be there.
A spectacular view from the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains
And a bear
Crikey
And finally, where are the other two?
That’s us up to date. Next stop is Nashville for a couple of nights and then onto Memphis as we head for Hot Springs National Park. Before we ship out tomorrow I am hoping to run a local 8km race; I’ve never run an 8k before so it’s bound to be a PB.
Just keeps getting better
Utah. That’s where we are now. We’ve been away for over 6 weeks and on the road for 5; we’ve clocked up 3,600 miles in the RV and over 1,500 in the car and spent more than $1,000 dollars on gas.
As for life on the road, we’ve got a pretty good routine going – we can shower with an egg cup of water, empty the black and grey waste without mishap, and spot a gas station that will take an RV and tow car without getting blocked in . We’ve been staying in a mixture of paid-for campsites and some unbelievable free camping spots.
The main features of our trip since we were in Santa Fe has been the stunning scenery. There’s tons of it, every time you go around a corner or over the brow of the hill there’s a sight to take your breath away. Almost literally sometimes as the effects of altitude are noticeable on some of the hikes.
We’ve seen some wildlife – one snake, loads of lizards and chipmunks, a few hummingbirds and Deb saw a coyote. Oh and a roadrunner.
Talking of Roadrunners, we also stopped for a chat with a participant, Harita Davies, in the Peace Run – an organised run across the USA – who is something of a legend in NZ
Here are some of the highlights.
Early morning run at altitude at Mesa Verde
Exploring the ancient pueblo homes in the canyons
Lake Powell and kayaking in Antelope Canyon. The sheer peacefulness of the canyon was shattered by some eejit and his selfie-taking girlfriend grounded their speedboat in the shallows and then found he couldn’t turn round in the narrows. No cool points for him and a broken propellor for his boat.
Deb’s solo attempt up Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I didn’t take the photo because I was some 300ft down the mountain; I had an attack of the nerves and couldn’t face the scramble up the last bit.
Walking through the Virgin River in the narrow part of Zion
A most excellent early morning hike up to Observation Point
One of the free campsites
And finally some views from our trip into Bryce Canyon yesterday
25 May 2018
Utah. That’s where we are now. We’ve been away for over 6 weeks and on the road for 5; we’ve clocked up 3,600 miles in the RV and over 1,500 in the car and spent more than $1,000 dollars on gas.
Utah. That’s where we are now. We’ve been away for over 6 weeks and on the road for 5; we’ve clocked up 3,600 miles in the RV and over 1,500 in the car and spent more than $1,000 dollars on gas.
As for life on the road, we’ve got a pretty good routine going – we can shower with an egg cup of water, empty the black and grey waste without mishap, and spot a gas station that will take an RV and tow car without getting blocked in . We’ve been staying in a mixture of paid-for campsites and some unbelievable free camping spots.
The main features of our trip since we were in Santa Fe has been the stunning scenery. There’s tons of it, every time you go around a corner or over the brow of the hill there’s a sight to take your breath away. Almost literally sometimes as the effects of altitude are noticeable on some of the hikes.
We’ve seen some wildlife – one snake, loads of lizards and chipmunks, a few hummingbirds and Deb saw a coyote. Oh and a roadrunner.
Talking of Roadrunners, we also stopped for a chat with a participant, Harita Davies, in the Peace Run – an organised run across the USA – who is something of a legend in NZ
Here are some of the highlights.
Early morning run at altitude at Mesa Verde
Exploring the ancient pueblo homes in the canyons
Lake Powell and kayaking in Antelope Canyon. The sheer peacefulness of the canyon was shattered by some eejit and his selfie-taking girlfriend grounded their speedboat in the shallows and then found he couldn’t turn round in the narrows. No cool points for him and a broken propellor for his boat.
Deb’s solo attempt up Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I didn’t take the photo because I was some 300ft down the mountain; I had an attack of the nerves and couldn’t face the scramble up the last bit.
Walking through the Virgin River in the narrow part of Zion
A most excellent early morning hike up to Observation Point
One of the free campsites
And finally some views from our trip into Bryce Canyon yesterday
Utah-ly Spectacular
11 June 2018
If I remember correctly, I last blogged from Bryce Canyon, Utah, nearly 3 weeks ago. After the jaw-dropping views from Zion, Bryce was on another scale; almost other-worldly. We had a couple of hikes which took us into the base of the canyon away from the main tourist spots, at times it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Like an eejit, I dropped my camera on a really dusty bit of trail and it died a slow death, so most of the photos are from an old iPhone.
Deb and I have been bowled over by Utah. As well as Zion and Bryce Canyons, there was also Capitol Reef (where we found the most amazing place to have breakfast), Arches and Canyonlands. Oh, and just for good measure there was Dead Horse Point. So many canyons, all different, all utterly spectacular.
Not to be outdone by Utah, Colorado also has a canyon. And a right deep (more than twice the size of the Empire State Building) steep one too. This one also had bears – mother bear and two cubs strolled across the road as we were heading into the base of the canyon. Deb went to a talk about Turkey Vultures given by a park ranger and is now quite the expert, for example, did you know that Turkey Vultures eat rotten meat that is over three days dead, vomit on any other animal that tries to steal its food, wees on its feet to clean them, and poohs on them to cool them down.
We are now in the Rockies and still at altitude. I’ve definitely not quite got used to the thin air – any uphill has me puffing and wheezing – but the views are worth it.
Internet access has been very thin on the ground. In fact, we’ve not had a right lot of electricity either. We tend to stay away from the big campgrounds with all the bells and whistles and hunt out the free or nearly free ones. It can be a bit hit and miss but we’ve had some real belters.
Here’s the piccies. I’ve taken hundreds so have whittled them down as best I can.
Starting with Bryce Canyon. It just shows what can be achieved with a bit of nature and a few million years.
Then there’s Capitol Reef. We got up early and were at the top of the highlighted rocks in time for breakfast and had the best view.
On our way to Arches we saw some proper cowboys
And then there was Arches. Another stunning example of what rock and weather can create.
Not forgetting Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands. Unbelievable scenery.
For something a bit different we went on a sunset ATV tour in Moab and found a novel way of parking your ATV.
One of the freebie campgrounds was really off the beaten track – there was nothing but a few ranches – and had the most amazing rock formation. This massive boulder – Miracle Rock – seemed to defy gravity.
This is Black Gunnison Canyon in Colorado. I didn’t get to my camera quickly enough to snap the bears so you’ll have to imagine that bit.
And finally to today. I went for a run first thing but kept stopping to admire the view and to take a pic of a Bald Eagle. It’s not the best pic because it is the iPhone on maximum zoom shooting through one of those free telescope things.
This is the view of the Rockies and us standing on either side of the continental divide. Oh and a moose.
That’s pretty much bang up to date. We’ve got a few more days in the Rockies before heading north to South Dakota and then heading West to meet the girls in Wyoming. I’ve had a new camera for over a week but today is the first day that we’ve had electricity to charge it up. I’ll be out snapping tomorrow.
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