Month: October 2020

October 24, 2020

Hello, Hello! Greetings from New Mexico! We arrived Angel Fire, NM a few days ago. One of our very favorite places to stay. But more on that later – right now I want to share with you our wonderful visit we had with Guy and Katelyn in Santa Fe.

They had never been to New Mexico before, and it was so fun sharing one of our favorite places with them. We had great weather (they have 325 days a year of sunshine there!) and a nice spot at the RV park we like to stay in there. So we had a perfect home base for our visit.

There is so much to do in Santa Fe – the museums, the historic Plaza with it’s shops and restaurants, hiking in the near by mountains, and our favorite – the Farmer’s Market! We did it all! We also love the adobe architecture of the area, it really feels like you’re in a different part of the world. And it fits the landscape perfectly. Santa Fe is just beautiful to look at and be in. We soaked up as much of it as we could!

We also visited with Steve’s high school friend, Chris, and her husband, Bob, again while there. It’s so nice to be able to visit with folks who we probably wouldn’t get to see if not living this RV life of ours. Chris gave us a very nice personal tour of the Museum of International Folk Art, where she works. We had visited it before, but we learned so much more when touring with her. It’s an amazing museum, and I highly recommend it if you visit Santa Fe.

We got outside and hiked twice with Guy and Katelyn, up in the mountains with some fall color still there. We missed the peak color, but we really enjoyed the golden aspens that were still there. I know I say this every year, but there is something magical about being in the golden light of the sun shining through the golden aspens. Guy and Katelyn loved them too, and we had picnic lunches on our hikes in the trees. My definition of heaven on earth – in the mountains, eating lunch in the golden aspens with our loved ones. Really – Life Is Good!

During one of our visits to the historic Plaza area, we stopped and talked to 2 Native Americans (turns out they were father and daughter, named Okhuwa P’ing and Khuu Ay, from the Santa Clara Pueblo) who were selling pottery they made. It is called “black on black” pottery for the style it is. They shared with us how it is made – they do not use a potter’s wheel – it is all hand shaped. Then it is fired outside in a wood fire, then smothered with horse manure to block the oxygen. Beautiful pieces, and we purchased a couple of items. During our conversation, Guy mentioned he and Katelyn were getting married next year. When we were leaving, Okhuwa P’ing called us back, and he gave Guy and Katelyn a beautiful, handmade Dream Catcher as a wedding gift. He spoke to them about the meaning of the Dream Catcher, and the 2 feathers on it. He gave them blessings for a long life together. It was incredibly personal and very meaningful. What a special person he is, and we are so fortunate for getting to spend time with him and his daughter. I don’t think any of us will forget the experience. Here’s a picture of Guy and Katelyn with their Dream Catcher:

We loved showing the kids the Farmer’s Market. They love farmer’s markets like we do, and go often back home in Minnesota. I know I’ve gushed on about the Santa Fe Farmer’s Market in posts from years past. But really! It is something special! It was a little smaller this year, and there were no performances going on like there usually are (dances, music). But it was still incredible and we of course bought so much fresh produce and food we could hardly fit it into our fridge and freezer!

You’ll notice we quickly adopted our New Mexico look again, with our hats…and we got Katelyn in on the look too! Still working on Guy….. 🙂

Of course, the time spent together went by way too fast. But we enjoyed every minute of it and are so glad they were able to come visit. We love our RV life and sharing it with loved ones makes it all the more special. Life Is Good, indeed. Here’s pictures of our visit – enjoy! https://photos.app.goo.gl/xxky18Z3j3GsNQZF8

October 12, 2020

Howdy folks! And happy fall! My favorite time of the year, especially when we are in Aspen country (and we are, now). We arrived Santa Fe today, our 3rd year in a row spending time here in October. But that will be for another post. Right now I’m going to update you on our past couple of weeks.

So you know we were supposed to go to the Redwoods National Park when my brother and his wife were visiting, and we had to change those plans. Well, we were also scheduled to go to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. Both ended up closing due to fires in the area. So….we had to make a new plan. We’ve never been to either Yosemite or Sequoia. We hear Yosemite is a must see. We also know it is always crowded and you know how we already have a love/hate relationship with national parks. So we honestly we were not all that disappointed to change our plans. We’ll get there someday, I suppose. Meanwhile, we re-routed ourselves through Mt. Shasta, California (really liked it, will go back someday) and then on to the Lake Tahoe area (same – really liked it, will go back someday). So it all worked out. That really is one of the great things about traveling this way, we can be flexible and change plans when we need or want to.

So we still got to see some of northern California, and new places we had never been. And, it was SO GOOD getting back into the mountains. After several weeks on the Oregon coast, we really were anxious for some mountain hikes, and we found them! We had a little smoke in the skies while in California, but nothing terrible. You’ll see in some of the pictures the sky is a little hazy. And guess what?? The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) goes right through the Lake Tahoe area, so one of our hikes was on part of the PCT. You might remember we hiked part of the PCT while in Oregon too. I just love getting my feet onto these historic, cross country trails, even if it’s just for a few miles. All that good energy there to soak up!

Mt. Shasta was a very cute little mountain town. It has a reputation for having good energy (similar to Sedona), so I planned our stay there to be over the fall Equinox. They were just beginning to re-open the national forest areas while we were there, and several areas were closed still, but we were able to find a beautiful hike. It’s an area that we would like to spend more time in, and explore more.

The Lake Tahoe area was very beautiful too. We stayed right on the Nevada/California boarder. In fact, half the RV park was in Nevada, half was in California! And, the RV park was associated with a casino, and they had a building on the property that sold both Nevada and California lottery tickets. We kept seeing a lot of cars in the parking lot of this building and couldn’t figure out why – then someone told us it was a lottery sales place, and they had a line of tape down the middle – one side sold Nevada lottery tickets and the other side sold California lottery tickets!

We really enjoyed the whole area. We drove around the entire lake (about 75 miles). It has lots of little villages and towns all around, each with a different personality. We had fun being tourists some days, doing some shopping and going out to dinner a couple of times. There were so many hikes in the area it was almost overwhelming to pick a few out. We loved all the hikes we did – but we found an area (the Mt. Rose Wilderness), on the Nevada side of the lake, that had beautiful hikes around a couple of creeks, and with shade. Gerry just can’t handle the sun and needs a creek or stream to get into with the heat. So we spent a few days hiking that area. You’ll see lots of pictures in the link below.

Then we moved on to Sedona. We were there 2 years ago and loved it, and decided to route ourselves through there again, on our way to Santa Fe. Wow. We remembered we liked Sedona. We remembered it was beautiful. But wow – when you come around the bend in the road and see all those red rocks again….pictures and memories do not do it justice. We loved being there again, even for just a few days, and it was a good reminder of how much we like it – and we plan to spend more time there at some point.

I have to tell you a little story about one hike we did in Sedona – Boynton Canyon. It’s a lovely, 6 – 6.5 mile hike, all through a canyon (thus the name!). We had done the hike when we were in Sedona 2 years ago, and my sister, Laura visited. You long time readers of my blog will remember how there was a guy playing the flute on top of a big red rock back then…well guess what?! He was there this time too! When we arrived for our hike, in the morning, he wasn’t there, and we figured he wasn’t doing it any more. But, when we were almost back at the end of our hike, we could hear the flute playing in the distance – so we hurried down the side trail to where he was. He saw us coming, rushing up the trail, and I think he added a couple of songs to his play time to let us get up to the area to sit and listen. It was wonderful! And we were able to talk to him after, and he gave us each heart rocks he carves out of the red rocks again! We had received heart rocks last time also, and one of ours had broken (fell off the dresser in the RV while we were bouncing around on some road somewhere). He is a very inspirational guy, and it was very special to us to hear him play again. And we are thrilled to have the heart rocks! Here’s a short video of him playing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fcZYx9tq6iU9ptMC7 Really – does it get any better than that??

We have had absolutely beautiful weather for several weeks now. We’ve done as many hikes as we can fit in every where we’ve been, and I have lots of pictures for you. And, we are settling in to our digs in Santa Fe – we love it here! And…Guy and Katelyn arrive in a couple days for a visit (Yay!!) so I’m busy cooking and prepping for that. I’ll have lots to share after their visit, I’m sure.

So enjoy the pictures, and I hope you are able to get outside and enjoy some fall weather where ever you are!

Mt Shasta, California: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7nogdP2NVt51MYFr8

Lake Tahoe Area: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fea3M9KP1gzj8DuEA

Sedona, Arizona: https://photos.app.goo.gl/JfvxxZi9EMxd93zv6

October 4, 2020

Hello again everyone! Wow. Do you believe it is early October already??? It does not seem possible. The days and weeks are flying by in a blur. Grab a cup of tea and let’s get caught up….it’s been awhile!

I mentioned my brother Danny and my sister-in-law Christine were visiting us in Oregon, at Bay Point Landing, just outside Coos Bay, Oregon. They had a cabin at the RV resort, just a short walk from our RV, right on the water. Very nice. Then, the plan was to move after a week to Klamath, CA, near the Redwoods National Park. After much discussion and talking to the RV park in Klamath, we decided to cancel that part of the trip, and we all stayed another week at Bay Point Landing in Oregon. The fires were fairly close by Klamath, CA, and, all of the national forest lands were shut down due to fire threat, so no hiking in that area. And, the one road that went from Klamath to the airport they were scheduled to fly out of was closed due to a fire. So, it seemed prudent to not go there. We were all disappointed to not get to Redwoods National Park, but it will have to wait for another time. So we settled in where we were and had a lovely time. It is absolutely wonderful having them come visit again – you may remember they also visited us last summer in Colorado. We are so glad to spend this time together, the fun of exploring and experiencing new things is all the more special when shared.

We spent our time enjoying several of the beautiful beaches, and even took a side trip to the southern most part of the Oregon coast, and rented a cabin for a night near Port Orford, Oregon. The Oregon coast is stunning there – we found the southern coast the most beautiful and least crowded. Here’s pictures from our “side trip” to the southern coast: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XRneeumzekbX2bAu7

One big adventure we did was renting ATVs and hitting the Oregon Dunes for a day. Wow – that was quite the experience! Oregon’s central coast has giant sand dunes that run for 42 miles along the coast. All kinds of ATV rental places around and basically you just go out and run around any part of the dunes you want. There’s no real roads or trails through the dunes. I was a little afraid at first, then I got over it and enjoyed it a lot! Steve drove our ATV, and Danny drove theirs. Here’s some pictures of that adventure: https://photos.app.goo.gl/WyMExHvbYQSujGWA8

Don’t they look like professionals???!!!

The 2 weeks they were visiting just flew by. We loved just spending time together, cooking, watching the waves on the beaches, relaxing, talking. Really, there’s nothing better than just being together and sharing time in a beautiful place. Even though we had to change our plans up a bit, everything was perfect. Isn’t that what it’s all about, after all? And even though we “live on wheels” sometimes staying put is what is best. Taking time to enjoy right where we are.

Pictures are worth a thousand words….and pictures don’t begin to capture the fun and love shared. Here’s my attempt to sum it all up in pictures – enjoy! https://photos.app.goo.gl/TzzEUe7GN5q3KKKL7