Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

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Friday Foto Faire–Images from Government Websites in the U.S.–#1.

April 20, 2012

Camping under a full moon; Backpacking; White Sands National Monument
Camping under a full moon.
Backpacking; White Sands National Monument		 Camping and Cabins; San Juan National Forest
Travel trailer in San Juan National Forest.
Camping and Cabins; San Juan National Forest		 Camping at Gateway; Gateway National Recreation Area.
Camping in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Camping at Gateway; Gateway National Recreation Area.
Image of a backcountry camp spot with a wonderful view from the Ajo Range. Backcountry; Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Image of a backcountry camp spot with a wonderful view from the Ajo Range. Backcountry; Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument		 Forest tent camping; Campground Camping; Ocala National Forest.
Forest tent camping; Campground Camping; Ocala National Forest.		 Fifth wheel trailer; City of Rocks National Reserve, Smokey Mountain Campground, part of Castle Rocks State Park.
Fifth wheel trailer; City of Rocks National Reserve, Smokey Mountain Campground, part of Castle Rocks State Park.
Car camping was popular in the 1920s; Vintage Camping; Rocky Mountain National Park.
Car camping was popular in the 1920s;Vintage Camping; Rocky Mountain National Park.		 RV camping with many of the comforts of home! Camping & Cabins; Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests
RV camping with many of the comforts of home!Camping & Cabins; Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests		 RV camped near aspen; Dispersed camping; Malheur National Forest
RV camped near aspen; Dispersed camping; Malheur National Forest

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Moving on down the road.

April 14, 2012

Leaving Moab, Utah, we had a few days before our next reserved camp site – on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  While we didn’t have reservations, we decided to head down to Natural Bridges National Monument, still in Utah.

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Unfortunately, we weren’t able to camp at the monument for two reasons.  All of the sites were filled and there is a 26 ft. length limit, which includes the RV and the tow, or towed, vehicle.  Our little motorhome is just under that, but we were towing a little car, so were over length, even if there would have been a site available.

However,  a ranger at the desk in the visitor center was able to direct us to an overflow camping area a few miles from the park on BLM land.  We were able to find a nice little spot there with a bit of privacy from the few other camps utilizing the area.

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I’m going to try to work through the remainder of photos from the trip a bit faster, without working up a video for now.  I do plan to put together videos and pages with links to references, but that will be down the road a ways, figuratively speaking.

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Our plans didn’t include… SNOW!

October 6, 2011

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September 15, 2011 – Rocky Mountain
National Park

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October 6, 2011 – near Flagstaff

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We learned several years ago that it was advisable to make reservations in advance when planning to camp in popular national parks.  This year we made reservations for Rocky Mountain National Park (5 nights), Arches National Park (3 nights) and Grand Canyon National Park (3 nights north rim and 3 nights south rim).

We saw our first snow of the trip on September 15 when we were camped at Rocky Mountain National Park.  It had been kind of cloudy and rainy on the 14th.  We had driven across the park over Trail Ridge Road and had lunch and did a little shopping in Grand Lake.  On the way back, we ran into very heavy fog.  Around 3 pm, we stopped at the Trail Ridge Gift Store – next to the Alpine Visitor Center at 12,000 feet – for a coffee break.  Unfortunately, it had already closed and, where it had been in the 60s in Grand Lake, the temperature was 35°F.  We made it down in plenty of time, but, just a few hours later, Trail Ridge Road was closed due to snow.

Yesterday (Wednesday, October 14) morning I got online to check the weather. We were camped at Grand Canyon North Rim and were planning to travel today to the South Rim today. Unfortunately, the forecast was for rain/snow mix turning to snow with possible 1 to 2 inch accumulations. I knew that that wouldn’t be bad if that’s all that it did. However the forecast for today was for more precipitation and wind. With driving a somewhat boxy motorhome and towing a car, the overall forecast was too iffy, so we canceled our reservation at South Rim and left North Rim yesterday — the drive was still a fight with the wind, but there was no precipitation.

We heard on the evening news earlier that Jacob Lake, at beginning of  the road to North Rim, got 3 inches of snow.  Just as I thought, there was little or no snow sticking to the roads, but I’ve heard of too many surprise significant mountain snow accumulations to risk it with our motorhome.

We’re camped 50 miles south of South Rim and will go to the canyon tomorrow and the next day — it’s going to be cold and bit of a drive, but that’s okay.

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Driving to the deep South in a very hot July–What were we thinking?

July 6, 2011

Our preference is to flee the heat and humidity of Arkansas by heading to the mountains – when we can.

US 65 in southeast Arkansas, July 1, 2011.

This year, that’s not an option.  I’ve got contract work through the hottest part of the year, so we’re not planning on a trip until later.

This fourth of July weekend, though, I had the opportunity to make it a four day weekend, if, on Thursday, we were able to get done with everything that needed to be done at work so we didn’t need to finish up on Friday.  I texted Karen to let her know, “May take tomorrow off and make it a 4 day weekend if we can finish this exam on the simulator tonight.”

“Ok, you probably need a break,” she replied, and then a little while later, she asked, “Do you want to take a day trip or overnight for something different to do?

I texted back, “Don’t know as hot as it is.  It’d be different if it were cooler.”

Karen: “Biloxi MS is to be in the mid to low 90’s maybe a shower or two. – Day drive look around – just an idea.”

US 65 in southeast Arkansas, July 1, 2011.I liked the idea, but decided to check to see just how long a trip that would be.  “That’s over an 8 hour drive by google,” I texted.

So there we were the next afternoon, south of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with the heat mirages shimmering off the blacktop, without even a clue of the road construction traffic backup we would run into east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, or that we would end up in an extended crawl in Friday rush hour traffic in Jackson, Mississippi going into a long holiday weekend.

We didn’t take our motorhome, though there were plenty of recreational vehicles on the road.

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Modern gypsies – sort of

October 20, 2010

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We own a modern motorhome – a class C – and  had two other recreational vehicles previously.  We bought the first one in the late 1980s, a small, used travel trailer. The second was a fifth wheel trailer that we bought new.  We’ve had our motorhome for a little over two years.

I’ve been a bit curious about the history of recreational vehicles in America and, last weekend, came across an article from the early days of vehicle camping, “Luxury Trailers create new army of Modern Gypsies,” published in the April 1936 issue of Popular Science.

I’ve republished the article , Modern Gypsies, as part of a reference library of vintage articles and articles I’ve written related to recreational vehicles.  At this point, though, the library is rather sparse, with only three articles.

Needless to say, the campers of 1936 differed greatly from many that we see today.  There are a lot of similarities, though, and a lot of innovation.  There are also “interesting” snippets:

Jack Bartlett, Tucson, Ariz., showman, recently purchased a trailer for $395, loaded into it a trained donkey weighing 800 pounds and a trunk containing fifty horned toads. With these as his performers, Bartlett tours the southwestern United States staging toad races and exhibitions of animal intelligence in hotel lobbies and schools.

An itinerant minister, traveling through sparsely settled sections of the West, has converted a house-type trailer into a portable church. He seats a dozen people, preaching from a small chapel and pulpit at one end. A woman evangelist, Mrs. Julia A. Locke, tours the country in her trailer, preaching from a platform while music is provided by a bungalow-type piano carried within.

The early days of work campers, I guess.

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Mesa Top

December 18, 2009

September 15, 2009 – Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

On our last full day in Colorado, we toured the six-mile Mesa Top Loop Drive, visiting most of the archeological exhibits and overlooks.

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Square Tower House cliff dwelling is named for the four-story-high structure standing against the curved back wall of the alcove.  About 60 of the original 80 rooms of Square Tower House remain.

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All of the cliff dwellings, including Square Tower House, were part of the final Mesa Verde building phase.  People lived here between AD 1200 and 1300.

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Small lizard on a ruin wall

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After spending the morning among the ruins, we took a drive in the afternoon.  At one point, we found ourselves on open range, with the road blocked by a herd of horses.  As I very slowly eased the car forward, the horses parted and let us through.

Commentary and images from the road

image and information from September 15, 2009

This post is being simultaneously published on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About

Pithouse – For thousands of years, native peoples were living in the surrounding areas before coming to Mesa Verde.  As with people all over the Southwest, Ancestral Puebloans lived in modest dwellings  — shallow pits dug into the ground, covered with pole and mud roofs and walls, with entrances through the roofs.

pithouse

In this excavation (above), what appears to be one pithouse is actually two.  The larger one, built first, around AD 700, was destroyed by fire. The smaller one, which looks like an antechamber to a larger room, is actually a second pithouse built soon after the first one burned.  It contains a new feature, a verticle ventilator shaft in one side, which appears in pithouses from then on — innovation!

cermonial_chamber

Above is an Ancestral Puebloan kiva – an undeground religious room.  The small circular hole in the floor is a sipapu, a symbolic entrance into the underworld – the Pueblo place of origin.  This early kiva design was continued in the Mesa Verde villages and cliff dwellings.

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Many fires have swept across Mesa Verde over time.  Recent fires have exposed previously undiscovered Puebloan sites.

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At our campsite on our final afternoon in
Colorado, 2009.

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