Spirits in The Desert

This is the seventh in a series of seven posts made during a 2017 US vacation. 

1. Joshua Tree
2. The Desert is Alive
3. Wide Open Spaces
4. Spring Flowers!
5. Gator Bait
6. Tornadoes and Car Trouble
7. Spirits in The Desert

We’re the home stretch of our journey. We’ve been nomads for exactly 63 days as I write this. It's been an extraordinary experience seeing so many amazing places and wonderful people. I'm truly thankful to be living in such a warm and wonderful place like the US.

This week we made it back into our beloved desert. After seeing some truly inspiring native ruins at Mesa Verde in South West Colorado, we continued onto Utah and Arizona through the stunning Monument Valley. Monument Valley is one of the first places that Craig and I visited in Utah many years ago. It’s home to nature's skyscrapers, these precarious cathedral spires that reach up into the sky thousands of feet. There are endless miles of red sandstone prairies that are so vibrant that the red color from the ground reflects a soft pink onto the clouds.  

Thinking about all of the ancient ruins we saw, Craig and I have spent many vacations in the desert, but it wasn't until this trip that I realized how vast a territory the ancient Native Americans inhabited. It seems that everywhere we went in the west; New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah we found ruins of the native people that once lived and farmed on cliffs and mesas there. It’s good to know that some of their decendents still exist in these areas and maintain the lands and customs for their children.

Side note: Perhaps you’re wondering if we are tired of the trip and getting a bit home sick. Frankly, it depends on where we happen to be. There have been times that we were feeling a bit worn down but sometimes it’s just a matter of changing our location and everything is great again. The reality is that when you travel this much to this many different locations, it's exciting and challenging at the same time.  

I’m getting ahead of myself, here are lots of pics and some comments in this final post.

Texas

Caddo Lake SP (TX)
"Bald cypress trees draped with Span­ish moss tower over the maze of bayous, sloughs, and ponds of Caddo Lake."

I hadn’t quite gotten my fill of swamps so we made one last stop at Caddo Lake State Park in Texas. I was not disappointed at all. There were tons of birds, turtles, and big old Cypress trees. Although we didn’t actually see any endangered Paddle Fish, I was told that they lurk around in the deep waters here. I liked this Caddo Lake because it still had the feel of Georgia and Louisiana but was actually in Texas. We didn’t see any alligators here and from the calm demeanor of the turtles, I don’t think they were close by. The best part; I finally got to see fireflies again! 

I’ve posted a video below because I wanted to share the sheer number of birds that live in areas like this.

Mineral Wells SP (TX)

This lakeside park had a small top rope climbing area where they had set up anchors for about 50 different top roping climbs. Unfortunately, the cliffs were only about 45 feet so it made for quick routes. Funny note, you have to watch where you put your hands while climbing or you might accidentally grab a cliff dwelling frog! Sorry, no pics but they are very cute (you can click this link to see what they look like Frog Pic at Mineral Wells SP).

Palo Duro Canyon SP (TX)

They call the place the mini Grand Canyon. There are several campgrounds and we stayed in the new in the valley called “Juniper”. I wouldn’t make a special trip here from the west coast but for folks in Texas, it’s great. The mountains are all less than 1000 feet but they are beautiful banded yellow, orange, gray.

New Mexico

Both Craig and I were surprised with New Mexico. Neither of us expected to see the forest that could have been in Tahoe. Santa Fe was a neat town. I loved the artsy vibe and it reminded me of Santa Cruz complete with purple hair and random musicians. ALL of the buildings have the same Santa Fe style red stucco and styling. I was amazed at how well the houses blend with the natural environment. I posted a picture below of a view of Santa Fe from on top of the hillside. 


New Mexico Skyline - You can't even SEE the houses!

Classic Stucco style building

Cool Wall Art

Ute Lake SP (NM)

Storrie Lake SP (NM)

Hyde Memorial SP (NM)

Not at all what I expected New Mexico to look like.
Elevation, approx. 9,000 feet.

Colorado

Mesa Verde NP (Co)
There's no denying that Mesa Verde is a pretty amazing place. We've seen cliff dwellings similar to these before but the sheer number of ancient ruins (4,300 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings), at this location is pretty darn impressive. From what I understand, at one time during the 13th century there were up to 22,000 Ancestral Puebloans living either in the cliffs or up on the bluffs. Also, the native people left behind some amazing artifacts that can be found in one of of the best museums I've ever seen in a National Park.  

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. This one is special because most of the dwellings found in the park have 1-5 rooms but this one had 150 rooms and estimated population of 100 people.

Cliff Palace is said to have only minor repairs done over the years to keep it intact. A ranger told me that it's 95% original..

This adorable little guy/gal was gathering bark from a nearby Juniper tree.  

For $5/each we were able to take a tour the of the Balcony House cliff dwelling.  That's me trying to figure out how to sneak a grinding stone under my shirt :)

This was a walkway to the upper floor. The wood was used to carbon date the age of these buildings.

Craig coming out of the 12ft tunnel that was the original entrance to the cliff dwelling. Back in the day, the people who lived here would have to complete a 60ft down-climb of open rock face before even getting to this opening. As you can imagine even small children were excellent climbers. I'm guessing that this tunnel was built for security. 

Pretty steep exit from the tunnel. You can get an idea of how high up the dwelling was by noticing the valley floor below. The original trail down (I was told) is about 100ft to the left of this exit point.

There weren't a lot of petroglyphs identified by the park but these were pretty amazing!

Utah!

Hovenweep & Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (UT)

We found a place called Hovenweep bordering Colorado and Utah - The name Hovenweep is Ute/Paiute for “deserted valley” known for its tower like ruins built between 1230 to 1275 CE. This was a chance find since we were planning to drive straight to Natural Bridges National Monument. This place is a little gem with just 31 campsites. It was dead quiet at night and a stargazer's dream. I think we’ll be back someday.

Horseshoe Tower  

It's so odd to see horses running free we had to take a picture

A beauty and her foal

Hunting Hounds...there were three more one other side and another truck with more nearby. Not sure what they were hunting.

Natural Bridges National Monument

Natural Bridges National Monument is located in Utah surrounded by the beautiful Bears Ears National Monument. Aside from it's location to Bears Ears and giant bridges, it's it is one of the darkest National Park Service in the US. I can speak from experience that the Milkey Way is AMAZING to see at night there.

Bridge	Height	Span	Width	Thickness
	m (ft)	m (ft)	m (ft)	m (ft)
Owachomo	32 (106)	55 (180)	8 (27)	3 (9)
Sipapu	67 (220)	68 (225)	9.5 (31)	16 (53)
Kachina	64 (210)	62 (204)	13 (44)	28 (93)

source: Wikipedia

Sipapu Bridge

Kachina Bridge

Monument Valley UT

If you look close, you can see the clouds reflecting a pinkish tone from the red dirt. 

Thanks for reading, I really enjoyed sharing my pictures! 

Tornadoes and Car Trouble

This is the sixth in a series of seven posts made during a 2017 US vacation. 

1. Joshua Tree
2. The Desert is Alive
3. Wide Open Spaces
4. Spring Flowers!
5. Gator Bait
6. Tornadoes and Car Trouble

7. Spirits in The Desert

One of my favorite things about traveling and camping around the country is the different natural sounds. Every morning is often started (sometime very early) with that first bird chirp and suddenly there is a chorus of birds, frogs, insects and other foragers starting their day. In rare cases, we’re fortunate enough to hear only natural sounds and no man made noise. 

For example, a few nights ago we camped at Three Rivers State Park on the border of Georgia and Florida on Lake Seminole. As if we were at some sort of swamp sporting event, a dozen frogs begin a song, and soon a hundred frogs would join in. The wave of sound would end in one spot and begin in the next, like a wave, until it made its way all the way around the lake. There must have been a million frogs taking place in the morning and evening ritual. Then, as suddenly as it started, it ends. This makes me smile….

Florida

Jetty Park Campground (Port Canaveral FL)

Jetty Park Campground is a very nice public campground managed by Port Canaveral. The park is within walking distance to the ocean and a port for large cruise ships and other barges etc. It’s the perfect place to stay if planning to go to Kennedy Space Center (approx. 30 min drive).

Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral FL) 

Whaat! So cool to see the SPACEX building!

The Apollo 14 Command Module, nicknamed "Kitty Hawk," was recovered from a successful Pacific Ocean splashdown on February 9, 1971. The lunar landing mission began with a successful launch on January 31, 1971.

"NASA's crawler-transporters, two of the largest vehicles ever built, have carried NASA rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for the last 50 years. They will continue their legacy as the "workhorses" of the nation's space program as part of the agency's journey to Mars."

Nerd-fest in front of The Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA (built in 1964) is designed to assemble large space vehicles, such as the massive Saturn V and the Space Shuttle. It's still very much in use for at least another 50 years according to NASA's website.

Blue Spring State Park (Where the Manatees Play FL)

Blue Spring State Park is the site of a natural freshwater spring at the Saint John’s River. This park has three main attractions; a Manatee Refuge, swimming hole, and alligator swamp. Most of the Manatees go there in the fall and return to the ocean in the spring (we saw only three while we were there). The Manatees are attracted by the clear water of the spring along with a variety of other HUGE fish like the Long Nose Gar (4-5 feet long), and catfish as big as a house cat. The spring itself sits at the end of a quarter mile long tributary on the St. Johns River. The spring is called “The Boil” because it pushes out 104 milling gallons of 72°F crystal clear water per day making it one of the largest springs in North America. The water comes up from an underground aquifer and serves as a swimming hole and a great place for free driving and scuba diving. Past the swimming area is the Manatee Refuge and beyond that is the river, home to a variety of fish, alligators, and birds. In case you’re wondering, Alligators don’t tend to venture into the swimming area.

All the Manatees were gone except for three. They usually only stay here in the winter for the warm water. They move back to salt water once spring arrives. The Manatees like water above 70°F because they are susceptible to cold water-related disease

Car Trouble (Somewhere in FL)

Traveling is not without its challenges. The trucks heater core went out. We discovered this when we started smelling antifreeze in the cab. After some skilled diagnostics by my personal mechanic and traveling companion, Craig was able to expertly fix the problem by bypassing the heater and saving us $$. However, we now have no heat..not a problem at the moment since the temperatures are ranging from 70-90°F.

OK well, this picture wasn't taken during the "event" (we were kinda stressed so I didn't think about taking a picture at the time). This one was taken a few days later after we discovered more antifreeze leaking. Looks like it's a minor problem.

Three Rivers State Park (Lake Seminole FL)

Three River State Park is beautiful. It’s a mix of swamp and lake. The lake is the convergence of the Chattahoochee River and Flint River into Lake Seminole. We spent only a day and night at this park but really enjoyed the beautiful views of the lake, walking on the trails, and watching the wildlife. Speaking of wildlife, I was walking under a tree and felt something fall out of the sky and onto my shoulder. At first, I thought I had just been grazed by a big bug but soon realized that there was a bit of weight on my shoulder. I reached up, felt something soft and cool, and brushed it off. When I looked down, I realized that it was this adorable little green frog! I posted a picture of him below.

The cute little frog that jumped on my shoulder

Another Beautiful Sunset

Mississippi
Nothing to report.

Louisiana

This is a really cool picture that Craig took when we stopped for moment. It's near Ponce de León, Louisiana

Jimmie Davis State Park (LA)

Wow, what an introduction to Louisiana! We made it into Jimmie Davis State Park in the later afternoon just as the rain began to fall. As we setup, a major storm started coming in, and Craig got a tornado warning on his phone. Whohoo what a storm! It rained a lot, the wind blew, thunder and lightning, it was quite a storm. This was just what we needed since we were feeling a little rain deprived (Florida is in a drought). What we didn’t know was that this was just a warm-up for the real storm that would come in at about midnight to treat us to a dance party quality lightning show and heart thumping thunder. In the end, we got about four inches of rain that night and a hell of a show! Not your California weather.

Lincoln Parish State Park (LA)

We saw a lot of fracking everywhere we traveled (it seemed) but we really got a taste of it first hand at this park. They were draining the lake to use the water for fracking going on about a mike away. For two days the pump ran night and day. In the end half of the lake was drained. (short video below)