June 23, 2017 Day 6 Estes Park, CO

Although we had ambitious plans of rising early and going on the most popular hike in the park, arriving at the trailhead before 7:30, this did not happen.  We both were tired, and the 6:30 came and went and neither of us got out of bed.  At about 8:00,Dick suggested a new agenda for the day: a chill day.  No big hikes, no huge drives.  Just hanging out, reading and napping, chocolate-covered doughnuts for breakfast, a little laundry right in our building.  We both HATE to miss out on enjoying anything beautiful, but the sky is overcast, and the temperature is 46 degrees ( more than 60 degrees colder than we had a few days ago. Actually, it is cold and we had to dig out our jeans and sweatshirts.  What a change elevation and going north makes!

We also got some Noosa yogurt.  This is the brand from the company that our friend, Aaron, in Fort Collins works for.  It is “Aussie Culture, Colorado Fresh. Delicious!  Including Strawberry Rhubarb!  And then for lunch, we got to enjoy the New Mexican Tumbleweed Soup, that friend Hank Bruce sent along with us, made of young tumbleweeds (before they dry up and roll down the road).  Delicious, and a very cool experience, although nice to eat something warm on a cool day.  We have such interesting friends, eh?

A hang out day was just the ticket.  We know we will have many more lovely mountains coming up.  For now, how about a murder mystery?  Yes!

So the hangout day went very well. At about 3 o'clock Dick suggested we head back over to the National Park for a short stroll along around Sprague Lake. By this time it had warmed up to the mid-60s and the sun was out. As we get near to the park Patty realized there was a park ranger session park ranger park ranger about volunteering in the park. We joined about 10 other volunteers who spent about 45 minutes picking up litter in the campground. It was led by an enthusiastic park ranger Who let us in a discussion about why we should pick up litter. At the end of the time we all brought back our buckets filled with paper glass, plastic, ropes, photos, and Dick even found it carefully wrapped plastic bag full of dog poop. Altogether in our short time, we collected a little less than 5 pounds of trash. In a campground that was amazingly clean.

Just after leaving the campground, we looked up the valley in which we had hiked yesterday.The sun shimmered on the Big Thompson River with the mountains dramatically at the end of the valley.  Of course, we had to find a place to stop and take some photos.  We loved the sights and fresh air. Delightful!

Then we set off for our lovely stroll around Sprague Lake. This 13-acre lake was once part of a fine resort in the area. It now has a lovely walking path around it and we enjoyed watching and chatting with the many other people who were enjoying the day. 

The mountains in the lake we're beautiful. We also ran across the end of a couple of weddings in this lovely setting. What a great spot for a wedding. We even had ur photo taken by the lake. And we watched a number of anglers including some doing fly fishing. Mostly fishing not much catching.

Instead of heading back to cook dinner, Dick suggested we go to the busiest spot in Rocky Mountain National Park: Bear Lake. Our plan had been to go there early in the day before the crowds were crazy. Instead, we arrived late in the afternoon when the crowds have died down. We thought we might just stroll a bit around the lake but ended up going all the way around. There were so many beautiful views. The reflection in the lake different ways of seeing the different mountains. This is indeed a very special beautiful spot. We were both so glad that we came out and got to see it when the weather had warmed up with a beautiful blue sky.

As we approached Bear Lake several people excitedly told us that there was a moose just a few yards up the trail.  We could see an animal laying down in the thick brush but could not tell if it was a moose  When it got up, it definitely was not a moose.  It was a female elk.  A while later as we continued along the trail, we found another animal  This time is was much smaller and clearly a chipmunk.

On the way driving back down the mountain, Patti had declared she wanted to see you some elk and deer. Her wish was granted. In several spots, we saw particularly beautiful elk as well as a deer or two. So much fun, so beautiful.

Then back to our resort to cook for the lovely dinner and spend a little more time looking at her photos and thinking about our blog. Tomorrow we leave to head up to Wyoming. Our time in Colorado has been divine.

We wanted to give you a little sound bite from our walk today.  We have been near so many streams, big and little, and the sound is always wonderful.  Enjoy!

June 22, 2017 Day 5 Loveland CO to Estes Park CO

Part of the funny balance of traveling and going to national parks is the balance between nature and crowds. We love the national parks and that is some of the most wonderful things that our country has to offer. However we are not alone in this. And so in many cases as we arrive in national parks we have to deal with the funny thing of heavy crowds wanting to get away from it all. One of the things we always know is sometimes you need to get just a quarter-mile off of the asphalt parking lots to be away from the people. The traffic jams sometimes are really annoying however. Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park is one of those busy places. We know we will be at several more of those throughout this journey so the balance continues dealing with all the people who are there to soak in all of the beauty

That said, we were up early for a lovely hour and a half drive up a mountain canyon getting to Estes Park, where we will be staying two nights.  This is right outside Rocky Mountain National Park.  The drive into the mountains was so beautiful, much of it in the Big Thomson River canyon.  We were mindful that the flooding of this river we were driving along had taken out much of this busy road (on more than one occasion) and had only recently reopened.  The cliffs and the rocks as well as the mountain river were glorious.  We also saw the signs that warned about floods!  No floods today, than heavens.

We arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park, our first National Park on this trip.  Lovely!  A quick trip to the Visitor’s Center and then off on a great fairly easy hike of about 5 miles and about 4 hours.

Wild flowers, breathtaking views, and nice interactions with other hikers were the order of the day.  It is so nice to get back to the mountains!  We will soak in these views over the next week or so.  People are generally so friendly on these hikes.  Lot of families, including babies in backpacks and people of all ages.   We even saw a couple of artists with easels set up for painting the beauty. We took, as you would not be surprised if you know us, a LOT of pictures today.  At every turn, something lovely.

Our destination, where we planned on eating our lunch was something called “the pool.”  We pictured a tranquil pause for the river tumbling out of the mountains.  Oh no, not this pool!  This was a mad torrent of water pouring through a narrow chute.  Dramatic but not tranquil.

We found a great place high on the rocks to eat our sandwiches.  Many others were finding similar places and eating their lunches.  We even saw one of those babies getting changed.  The food attracted a number of chipmunks and jays.  We left them disappointed but healthier not having our food.  What a lovely place to eat lunch.

As we ate we could see the clouds building over the mountain south of us.  We began to hear the thunder so we thought it was time to start down.  A few hundred yard down the path the first drops hit us.  Pleasant at first, cooling off the heat.  The drops became more insistent so we stopped and put on our rain ponchos.  As it turned out, that was the heaviest rain we experienced so the ponchos were soon back in the pack.

Going down the trail we had a different perspective on the scenery and the many lovely wildflowers.  Of course we had to stop momentarily for more photos.

We were tired and got to have an early check-in at the resort.  We cooked a great dinner and then watched Monument Men on DVD. A stunning movie.  See it if you haven’t.  Then working on photos and the blog took us into the night.  We love Colorado!

June 21, 2017 Day 4 Corrales NM to Fort Collins and Loveland CO

We were up bright and early and headed down the road by 715. The main goal of today was to get through Denver before the worst of the rush-hour traffic. And we knew we had about a 500 mile drive to get to Fort Collins Colorado where we needed to be to meet friends for dinner. The drive was really quite beautiful.  We drove through a low pass in the Rockies following the historic route of the Santa Fe Trail from Santa Fe, NM to Trinidad, CO. It is always striking as we think about not only cars and RVs and semi tractor-trailer trucks but also Conestoga wagons, oxen and horses making their way up this path. These two history majors often are drawn to think about those who came before us. With low mountains on either side, we drove through broad valleys with grasslands and Juniper trees.  At times there were buttes extending out from the mountains.  We were surprised that we did not see more cattle grazing but Dick did spot a small herd of Pronghorn Antelope.

As we neared the northwest corner of New Mexico, we began to see higher mountains and then a range of snowcapped peaks on the distant horizon. We drove over the Raton Pass into Colorado, our next state on this journey.

Driving north along the Front Range of the Rockies is always so interesting.  The high snow covered peaks to the left (west) and the flat Great Plains to the right (east).  We had this experience again just north of Trinidad, CO when we had the Spanish Peaks on our left and the flat grasslands on the right.  We knew there was nothing significantly breaking up the slope of the land down to the Mississippi in the middle of the country.

And so we drive, we are being drawn further north. Drawn into the mountains, into the Rockies, into the higher elevations, into the coolness and pine scented fresh air. The Interstate highways are the quickest ways to get us to our destinations on these long driving days when we must cover hundreds of miles (today was over 500 miles). But we also look for the scenic highway's. The less taken roads, the ones that takes us by little towns, beside blue lakes, around funny corners, and finding beautiful settings.  This is also part of our trip. And we love it!

We got to Denver by 2 o'clock. We scored! Although we did hit some slow traffic, we were able to get through the sprawling metro area and out the other side by shortly after three. That gave us enough time to go check into our hotel and have a little rest before dinner.

Wednesday evening brings a reunion with Heather, who was an AmeriCorps worker years ago with Patti when they both worked for the adult literacy program at a public library. Heather and Patti did amazing work with the families for literacy program and all kinds of great stuff for the kids. Heather and her husband, Aaron, now live in Colorado with their two children. The time with Heather and Aaron and their kids Annaliese and Ian was so fun. Highlights included getting to meet their four chickens. All of the home are supposed to be laying eggs of a different color. The chickens are too young and so no eggs yet.

We loved being coming reacquainted with these old friends. There house was set up to be a great place for the family.  We appreciated the rope ladder in the front yard which became a perfect setting for a family photo.

And, dinner at the pizza restaurant included enough time for Patty to teach the kids a magic tricks and also share with them her book How Baby Coyote Learned to Howl. It was a joy to meet the kids and to be reacquainted with Heather and Aaron. Part of the joy of travel is to see old friends and to experience their lives today.  Where do they live?  What is work like?  How are their families? What is meaningful to them now? It is great to see people again.

Then too soon it was time for kids to go to bed and Patti and Dick also to call it a night because tomorrow would be the first day hiking in the Rocky Mountains.

June 20, 2017 Day 3 Corrales NM

So today Dick went with his long time friend Ella Joan to witness the final adoption procedures of three children. She has devoted herself for many, many years for doing her part in helping to create things forever families for these children. It was an honor for Dick to watch her in action and to see the joy on these families’ faces. The process of adoption is in part a long time process of holding your breath and hoping it will all work out. Having the final word that says this child is now forever in this family! This is very cool, and very moving for Dick.  He was struck by the fact that not only the adoptive parents but large members of their extended families were  (grand parents, great grandparents, cousins, aunts uncles) were there to affirm these children as important members of their family.  Dick even got to the  “official” photographer taking photos for the families after the legal proceedings were done. 

Dick and Ella Joan had over an hour’s drive each way to the court house so they had a nice chance to catch up, but discovered there is no way to fill in all of the gaps of the past 30 years.  Nice to reconnect, though. 

While Dick was off in court, Patti first had some time to just hang out at the Airbnb.  She walked the meditation labyrinth that is behind the house.

Then she had the chance to hang out in the shade in a hammock.  Here are some thoughts she was able to dictate in the Dragonspeak app on her phone during that time.

So what is it about traveling that drives us to do it so often? The chance to get away from our everyday life to do different things to see different places, different sites, talk with different interesting people. The chance to be reminded that there are many different ways to live in this world, that there are many, many good people everywhere who are doing their part in caring for the earth, caring for the children. We get the chance to see the beauty of the earth, the mountains, in the deserts, the sunsets and sometimes even sunrises. We see the quirky places of the dinosaurs eating the mannequins. We see the places in history where people lived in triumph and suffered.  It is good it is juicy and we love it.

And so what is it about the desert that is beautiful and powerful? Driving to the desert reminds us of the power of sun and heat.  The power of what it means to have water or not to have water as we're dealing with temperatures that are 100° and higher.  As we are so grateful for air conditioning we are reminded for thousands of years people lived in this land and had no air conditioning, had no fans, had no electricity and they found their way.  They planted trees.  They found time to sleep in the afternoon, in the high noon sun.  They followed the water.  They changed with the seasons.  They were able to find a way to live in harmony with nature without destroying it.  There is beauty in those who survive in the desert.  Driving through it, staying in it reminds us of that.  Enjoying the feeling of a breeze while laying in a hammock watching the jackrabbit and the quail wander in the shade.  This is good. Enjoying the labyrinth in the backyard of the Airbnb, walking that meditative path which leads nowhere and yet to the center of all.  This is good.

And then, Tomi came over, and she and Patti spent a nice chunk of time just catching up on may things: life, family, health, politics.  Old friends are so precious and we have known each other since we were seminary roommates at Luther Seminary in 1982.   A long, long time ago.

When Dick got back, we got the chance to hear about the adoptions and we all got teary eyed as he told the stories and showed up some photos of the morning.

Then a little rest, and we met up with Tomi and Hank at a salad bar restaurant for cool food and good talk.  A nice way to end the day.  

June 19, 2017 Day 2 Flagstaff AZ to Corrales NM

It is sure hot here!  We woke up early, shortly after 6:00 aware of the dryness and the coming heat.  At breakfast, the weather map of Arizona was all red and pink….it would be record breaking hot this week.  We would drive through temperatures of over 105.  For the moment, we were in Flagstaff, at nearly 7000’ elevation, it was much cooler than Phoenix, to the south.

A novel experience at breakfast was an automatic pancake cooker.  You pressed a button and the machine dished out the batter and you could watch your pancake cook on a hot moving conveyer belt.  A fellow diner said, “We don’t have these in Germany.”  Patti replied, “We don’t have these in California either.”  We were all fascinated. And the pancakes were tasty.

About a half hour down the road, Patti noticed we were coming to Winslow Arizona, of the Eagle’s rock band’s song fame “Take it Easy”.  We had to stop at the “Standing on the Corner Park” and joined in with dozens of other early morning fans to get our photos.   Fun!

Next, Patti’s favorite American Roadside Attractions app pointed us to a rock shop with petrified wood, AND giant homemade dinosaurs who were displayed eating manikins.  It is said when the owner was asked why they were eating the manikins, he replied, “They have to be doing something!”  This was a very tacky bunch of dinosaurs. The sites also include a very dubious manikin who was posed in the bathtub in the restroom.  The clerk said she was put there because the truckers kept stealing manikins which were sitting outside.  Who knew?

Anyway, we got our free piece of petrified wood and then drove on off.

It was an easier drive today, around 350 miles.  Dick is getting into the driving groove, while Patti took a nap in the back on our napping mattress.  Very comfy!  But we no longer sleep overnight in the van.

The landscape continues to change.  Dry and dusty, mountains, then very flat.  We were pleased to cross into New Mexico, the third state on this trip and our destination for a couple of days.

We got to Corrales, a suburb of Albuquerque at about 2:00. Our Airbnb was not ready for us to check into so we were able to make arrangements to meet with our friends Tomi and Hank for a very refreshing couple of hours catching up and drinking an unending amount of iced tea. Although Patti keeps in touch by phone and FACEBOOK, that is never as good as being in the same place.  We will have more time with them tomorrow.

Our Airbnb was then ready for us, and we were happy to return for a third time staying with Jeaninne, our host.  This is the first of four Airbnb stays we will have on this trip.  If you haven’t tried it, we would recommend it as highly superior to staying at an anonymous hotel.

The evening took us to a delightful time with Ella Joan, a friend of Dicks from back in his Youth Service Bureau days in the 1970’s in Dayton OH.  Patti had heard stories but had not met her in person.  The three of us had a great time catching up and noting the many values and experiences that we all shared. She is an attorney and had practiced in many different types of law over the years.  At this point in her career, she has focused on representing adoptive parents and has helped to finalize so many, many adoptions over the years.  It was inspiring to hear her stories and her passion.  

She took us to a fabulous Italian restaurant in Albuquerque…delicious!  She and Dick will have more time together tomorrow.  We all three exchanged books that we had written.  A very nice evening.

Then, back to our lovely loft for a good night’s sleep.  Day two was another fine success!

June 18, 2017 Day One Oceanside to Flagstaff AZ

We’re off on a new adventure.  Knowing we had no deadlines a the end of the day, we took our time to get everything finalized in the morning.   No 8:00 departure today. We finally got off at a little after 11 knowing we had an 8-hour drive.  The preparation for this trip got a little less of our attention because we are just two months into living in our new home.  The past several months have been filled with looking for and buying a home, packing, moving, unpacking, and then attending to the areas of the house that needed attention. We were reminded again that homeownership can be expensive.  So now, we have a new whole house fan, new carpet, a new shed, new patio roof, and a number of electrical updates.  That said, we love our new home, and are happy to leave it for a bit of a break.

Our departure date was set by Dick having to be at the University’s commencement ceremony yesterday.  Patti has now finished her work at the counseling agency and children’s hospital until the end of July. Dick will have to do a bit of university work, but hopefully not too much.

The first day of a road trip includes making sure we have every last thing we can think of that we think we are going to need for a month.  We informed our new neighbors that we would be gone, made arrangements to have the plants watered, stopped the mail and the newspaper, and packed it all up on our minivan. 

We no longer sleep overnight in our minivan but do have a nice napping set up with a single cushy foam mattress. Patti took the first nap when we were a ways into Arizona.  Ahh, so nice to be able to stretch out.

We were both aware that today is Father’s Day, and we each missed both of our dads who have passed away very much.  Patti had brought along a National Public Radio (NPR) Driveway Moments CD that was filled with wonderful stories about dads.  We listened, laughed, and wiped away some tears as we heard reflections on fathers-stories by dads and about dads. 

As we travel, Dick especially loves to watch the changing of the landscapes.  Today he noted that the grasses of southern CA had turned brown after a very green spring. We climbed away for the coast and onto the Mojave Desert, and the land dried out, and the heat climbed higher. By the time we got to Kingman AZ, it was about 110 degrees (about 43 degrees C for our metric folks).  We didn’t stop much except to get gas and go to the bathroom.  You don’t hang out long in that kind of heat.   

We were then happy to start climbing up to the high plateau of Northern Arizona (over 5000 feet climb).  As we drove onto the northern plateau, we first saw expanses of grass and Juniper trees.  Then we got to Ponderosa Pine forests and even more green.   

Flagstaff is just an hour south of the Grand Canyon, but we are not visiting there this trip.  And, we also noted a couple of cool museums, including one dedicated to Route 66, which was already closed when we rolled by.  Another time. We arrived in Flagstaff about 7:30 as the sun began to set, lovely as we watched in the mirrors.  The temperature was a much more comfortable 80.  Much nicer! 

Not much of a sightseeing day today, besides just watching the change of scenery.  The goal was to get on the road and move a ways away from southern CA, driving a total of 500 miles.  It always takes a couple of days to get back into our road trip routines.   We know how to do this, and we love hitting the road. 

The adventure begins.