What an outstanding journey we were blessed to enjoy this winter and spring. We left in January for Florida and stayed until March then on to West Texas with Janet and Rusty. After a month they headed back to Florida when we left Guadalupe Mountains NP. We headed West into NM, AZ, UT, CO, and back to NM before heading home with a final stop in Alabama at the Oliver Rally.
In total we drove 13,392 miles, visited 34 new National Park Service units and revisited 13 that we enjoyed in the past. Our current count for parks is 357 of 424. We missed two that we knew would not be available, one that we were unable to visit because of deep snow, still over 4 feet on the roads and one that we postponed because it could be accessed easier from one in Colorado that is on the dock for a Northwestern trip.
We were in 59 different places overnight. Our first choice is usually a state or national park (33), then we look to Harvest Hosts (10) for travel days and used several of these including, farms, restaurants, museums and private homes. We used commercial sites (11) when we needed laundry or sewer connections or it just made sense for the time and place we needed to be and no other parks were available. We also did COE sites (2), free spots (2) and Harman’s driveway while the proposed gazebo, parking pad, fire pit, landscaping and deck are still being discussed (1).
The parks varied from vast National Parks like Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains, to one underground, Carlsbad Caverns, to the modest home of Medgar Evers in Jackson, MS. We enjoyed a future NP, Chiricahua National Monument, the “Big Five” in Utah and spent more time in the Petrified Forest than we did on our first visit there in 1976. Most of the parks were related to the Indians of the area and we were enthralled by most of them. We were in dwellings on cliff faces, in Pueblos, kivas and in some of the most remote spots in the Southwest. The oldest dated from about 700 AD and most were abandoned in the late 1200’s. Some are still active communities. We were able to see several state parks, lots of museums, some tourist stops and a ghost town or two. Our primary activity most days was hiking. Some were just a stroll to an overview or a building with others up to 6 miles across more rugged territory.
We celebrated our 52nd anniversary on the trip with a splurge dinner in Santa Fe at the El Farol - a restaurant since 1839. We enjoyed several other memorable meals along the way but most of the time we ate very well in the trailer. Cindy does a remarkable job in a very small space. I think we ate one or two breakfasts out, a couple of fast food meals - you miss Chick-fil-A after a while and some unique local meals like green chili burgers. There is a dearth of ice cream in places we did not expect, like Santa Fe and Albuquerque - some good bakeries though. But we still managed a few pretty good cones with the best at Brown Box in Kanab, UT.
The Oliver developed a few glitches, water pump was replaced, the AC controller needs replaced and we lost the brains of the solar, already replaced with a much better unit. We turned over 122,000 towed miles on this trip.
Plans are afoot for fall with Pennsylvania, Quebec and New England on the radar and possibly the last six parks in the Northeast. Depending in part on the fires?
Oh, I almost forgot, 10,813 photos with lots more yet to post. I know you’re thrilled:)
Cindy near the end of the 2.4 mile loop trail at Gila Cliff Dwellings. This is a very remote. end-of-the-road park in the mountains of central New Mexico.
Cindy took this of me on a trail in the harsh desert of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah.
Long hike in a cold wind at Capitol Reef, beautiful park and great views.
Camping in 17 degrees, picnic anyone?