We had fun, fun, fun

until Michigan took our dream away.

The fun started in a Walmart parking lot in Wichita Falls, Texas on Sunday as we watched the fightin’ Texas Aggies pull off an astounding win over University of North Carolina. Can’t imagine what folks were thinking as we strolled through Walmart in a daze with silly grins plastered on our faces. 

Monday we floated on down to Lewisville Lake near Dallas. After setting up camp in the Corps of Engineers Park,

we got together with some of our Texas friends.

(You may remember them from our Italy trip in 2016)

It goes without saying, when we are with these folks, we have fun!

You have heard us say on more than one occasion, we love the small towns we have discovered across this great country. However....we do enjoy slipping into the city from time to time. Since Dallas is where Captain began his career over four decades ago, it is always fun to return and reminisce . So we hopped on the DART (which wasn’t in existence when Captain lived there)

and headed downtown. First stop, Dallas Museum of Art.

Lady with a Red Hat, Frank Duveneck

Painting by Winston Churchill

Acrylic on Canvas

We were impressed with the museum (which had just opened when Captain worked downtown) especially the high school student exhibit. Wow, there is a lot of talent in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area!

Leaving the art museum, we strolled over to Klyde Warren Park (which was a concrete canyon of a freeway when Captain left Dallas....they decked over part of the freeway to create a green space north of downtown) where we had a choice of lunch from the food trucks.

The park is a beautiful lawn surrounded with tables and chairs, 

an innovative playground (with a really soft and squishy surface,)

a rack with magazines as well as a cart with games for folks to borrow as they relax in the park. Pretty cool! 

While eating a snack in the park we noticed a trolley

so we jumped on board and did a little touring (and Captain continued his narrative of how it used to be.) He finds it hard to believe how exponentially the city has grown over the past 25 years. 

The trolley has an interesting history.

This fun day in Dallas cost us a total of $25 ($5 each for a DART day pass, $15 for our food truck snack.) The art museum and trolley were free. What a bargain!

We had so much fun in Dallas on Tuesday, wee decided to return on Wednesday. This time we took the tandem. We started on the Cottonwood trail, riding along and under the freeways.

This may seem like a really cool ride but in reality it is somewhat risky. In cities like Dallas, homeless people tend to camp out under the freeways, leaving shattered glass along the bike paths putting the cyclist at risk for flat tires. On this particular trail, Captain was able to maneuver around the glass and we did not flat.

Following the Cottonwood Trail east, we connected to the White Rock Creek Trail and had a beautiful ride around White Rock Lake. (No photos due to our aging computer issue. Happy it held up until our last post from our Winter 2018 trip.)

Definitely plan to return and cycle more of the trails in East Dallas

We ended the week celebrating the 65th birthdays of the members of A&M Consolidated High School Class of ‘71. 

For one evening we all slipped back into the hippy days. Yes, most if not all were under the influence of drugs (for blood pressure, arthritis, asthma, etc.)

We are headed for San Antonio! That was our dream, but it was dowsed by Michigan. We will be watching the Final Four in College Station.

Taking it Easy

I’m standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona

and such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my Lord, by a flatbed Ford taking a look at me.

(for those of you too young to remember, paraphrased from an Eagles song in the 70’s)

We were near Winslow so we had to check out the corner; made us want to check out what else we might find on Route 66.

Near Winslow is a big hole in the ground Meteor Crater. 

It was formed 50,000 years ago when a huge meteorite weighing several hundred tons and about 150 feet across struck the earth.

Piece of meteorite found at the site.

Moving east on I-40, aka Route 66 (at least part of it) we landed in Albuquerque, NM. The plan was to explore Albuquerque riding the tandem on the bike paths. Winds that escalated to over 33 mph put a kibosh on that.

By coincidence our good hometown friend, Dick, was visiting his sister in Albuquerque.

Meeting for lunch at his favorite local diner, Duran’s on Central,

we caught up on hometown news.

After lunch we hit the museums, Captain dropped ABN at the Albuquerque Art Museum;

Small but nice museum.

he headed for

(of course.)

Mock-up of sub-critical assemblies at Los Alamos 

Mock-up of Trinty Test Device (first nuclear explosion device)

(bet this is information everyone can use.)

Before heading back to The Wanderer we explored a little in Old Town;

Like we said, it was a very windy day.

just enough to know we must return.

We ended the week in the Texas Panhandle, stopping at Palo Duro Canyon State Park for a couple of days;

Palo Duro Canyon

Drive to camp site

long enough to put together an easy 3-mile hike (with 23 Fitbit stair flights.)

Would have hiked to the cave, but look at the crowd! Besides, we had basketball to watch.
(lesson learned, do not plan to hike on weekends!)

Currently we are meandering on through Texas toward College Station.

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I found it!

 “The perfect tow vehicle!” said ABN.

Not, says Captain; “it can’t carry the tandem.” (But don’t necessarily count it out as Captain seems to gravitate more and more toward bohemian.)

Camping this week at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Arizona, we checked out the artsy community of Jerome.

Jerome reminded us a lot of Bisbee (our fav); not as colorful but better views.

Wanting to get in some riding, we explored Cottonwood on the tandem. Looking for a 20-25 mile bike ride, Captain checked out Map My Ride for the Cottonwood area. He found one that said it was a bit of a challenge but as most bicyclists know, that is subjective. And we needed to a little “hill work.” Captain set out to plot it on the Garmin; whoops he neglected to pack the cable that would transfer the route from the computer. No worries, he says “I’ve got this; it is only four turns and I have memorized the route.” Okay, after all we are seeking adventures. So off we go on a long climb on a busy highway (but it has wide shoulders.) And then we turned on scenic 89A, the traffic increases and the shoulder is not very smooth but it only about 5 miles until we turn (that’s 5 miles up hill.) Finally we turn off the highway and the traffic decreases and it was a lovely ride

(ABN didn’t take many pictures as she was either working hard to climb or hanging on tight as we descended.) But we made it without injury, without walking and without getting lost! And we realized we were stronger than we knew!

Sedona is beautiful

and prefect for hiking.

The 5-mile hike to Devil’s Bridge was worth the climb (62 flights of stairs according to Fitbit.) But would have been better if we had chosen not to hike it on a Saturday; way too many people!

Actually ABN nixed the last section of rock climbing due to the crowd. Captain climbed the bridge but had to wait in line to cross it. 

The most excitement was a lady dropped her cell phone over the cliff while taking a selfie with a selfie stick. No way to recover it!

West Fork Trail is supposedly the most popular hike in the Sedona area. Roughly a 6-mile out and back, it begins at the ruins of what was once a resort for well-known celebrities. Following the west fork of Oak Creek, there is little elevation gain, making it a relatively easy trail,

Except for the areas that were packed snow and ice

and the dozen or so stream crossings (out and back makes for 2 dozen crossings.) 

We are happy to report neither of us fell! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike

Driving back through Sedona, Captain asks ABN if she wants to shop; ABN observes the crowd of tourists and says she really doesn’t have a need for vortices or crystals. However, she could go for pizza and beer, so we stop at Oak Creek Brewery and Grill. Nice!!!

Today we are headed east, making back to Texas.

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You have heard us say, “We are on an adventure.” And that we were, thanks to Ms. Garmin. Following her directions, we found ourselves doing a little “off road” RVing as we made our way to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, AZ, just west of Phoenix. We knew we were in trouble when the pavement turned to obvious “off road” terrain.

At this point, it was too late to turn around, so we gingerly proceeded over the rocks and down the slopes until we reached pavement. The Wanderer and Roger made it without any injuries and our heart rates returned to normal. (Lesson learned, stop, assess, disconnect toad and turn around.)

Lost Dutchman State Park at the base of the Superstition Mountains was the home base for The Wanderer last week.

Finally we could have a campfire! (We found in a number of Arizona state parks, fires were not allowed due the potential for wild fires) It was quite nice to sit by the fire on a cool evening

to watch the sun set.

Around the campgrounds we had noticed several hummingbird feeders, considered getting one and thought, nah, just something else to maintain. Shortly after setting up camp at Lost Dutchman, a hummingbird discovered the butterfly magnets on our screen door and kept returning to check for nectar.

A couple of days later while visiting some folks we were entertained by hummingbirds at a feeder attached to their RV window. Yep, Captain went in search for a hummingbird feeder.

The Superstition Mountains are great for hiking, so we did.

A fairly moderate trail to Prospector’s View of about 2 miles

and the more challenging Siphon Draw Trail. No, we didn’t attempt to hike to Flat Iron, but we did make it to the Basin.

Several folks suggested we bike the Indian Bend Wash Multipurpose Trail from Tempe to Scottsdale. Again, we encountered an adventure. Just getting to the trail head we had to negotiate an obstacle course through major construction in Mesa. Finally we reached the parking lot for the trail but couldn’t find the trail; it was closed due to construction. So we did a little off road cycling.

Finally we found the trail and proceeded through a Pro Disc Golf tournament, made note of the signs stray golf ball area, (We were lucky to be missed by both golf balls and discs.) and enjoyed a nice bike ride.

One of the highlights of the week was sister time.

at the home of ABN's sister, Mary and husband Steve.

 Happy to report they are happy and healthy, playing golf and hiking most days.

Another highlight was getting to know Adele and Steve from Colorado.

We connected with them at Patagonia State Park a few weeks earlier. The draw was their 1999 Lazy Daze;

except for the color, it was almost identical to The Wanderer. Captain and Steve had a great time discussing modifications and upgrades. We departed with sincere intent to connect again down the road.

Arriving today at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, AZ, we are looking forward to exploring Cottonwood, Sedona and Jerome. The bicycling looks promising!

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