Flight Stories

I fly out of the nearest airport for the consulting work that I’m doing.  This time I flew out of Flagstaff.  I didn’t really research the airport, but John mentioned it looked small on google.  It turns out that it has one gate and one airline, though it did have 8 flights on Monday.  It’s so small the guys running the counter are busy helping the arrivals being processed, so the desk is only open certain times.  Then, security is only open a certain time before a flight.  The restrooms (one set) are outside of security so you don’t want to wait a long time at the gate anyhow.  They say that instead of the 2-hour rule for being at the airport before flight it's more like a 15 minute rule!

I’ve been at a smaller airport in Mexico.  It had one incoming and one outgoing flight a day.  The people came in to help process us for that one flight. then went home  So, this is relatively a large airport, but it’s weird.

Oh, and it was a propeller plane.  Haven't been on one of those for awhile!

We'll be back on the road tomorrow. 

Paperwork While RV’ing

This is me whining now.  Remember years ago when everyone said life will soon be paperless?  Well, we’re still not there.  I think we’re at that awkward stage.  The internet is certainly helping for paying bills, but some companies/agencies are pretending they want to be electronic while they make the process VERY difficult.

Our insurance company (State Farm) dropped us since we are full-timing.  They require a permanent address.  I’m guessing they want the additional sales of a home or apartment insurance but I think dropping full-timers is stupid.  Another full-time couple we met said they were dropped by State Farm too, so it’s not just us.  Anyhow, we’ve found several insurance companies that love full-timers but it’s just the hassle and paperwork of switching.

I’m finished up on the Cobra medical insurance from my last work.  So I had to find medical insurance for us while John is going on Medicare (!!!). That meant more paperwork and phone calls.  Plus, they like to send things in the mail (adds 2-4 weeks for us) or ask us to print out a paper, sign it, scan it, then send it back.  Sure, I’ll do that on the printer system I have here in the RV.

Finally, it was tax time.  This required lots of waiting for things to be forwarded plus this is the first time we’ve filled out the forms for David going to college.  Was it this bad when I went to college?  For some reason, Arkansas allows you to fill out forms on-line, but still requires you to print out a form then mail it to tell them you are going to do your forms on-line.  What?

Arghhh!!!

Water and Ruins

We visited two nearby ruins called Montezuma’s Castle and Montezuma’s Well.  Neither places are related to Montezuma, it was just a mix up by people visiting later.  The first is a rather neat looking cliff dwelling.  You can’t go into it, but just look at it from below.

The Well had a few cliff dwellings but the interesting part is the water.  There is 1.5 million gallons per day coming from the springs that flow into this sinkhole.  The water came through limestone, which changes the water chemistry so only certain plants and creatures can thrive.  The Sinagua sent the water into an irrigation canal to water their crops.

This was weird graffiti on the wall.  Is it really an advertisement from 1818?

Tomorrow I travel on a business trip so will not be posting for awhile.

More Ruins

Arizona seems to be the center of Native American ruins.  I’ve been wondering if other tribes built permanent stone homes or only in this area.  I’ve seen mounds in other states with traces of homes, but not really using stones for walls.  Maybe it’s not something you notice until you’re a tourist.

 Anyhow, we visited Tuzigoot National Monument.  This was the remains of a Sinagua village used between 1125 and 1400.  The rooms were bigger here than the other places we visited and we saw no windows.  It's interesting to compare answers to questions to rangers.  We asked why the rooms were bigger and why there were no windows.  One thought is was because the materials were different (limestone) while another felt it was a way of bragging ("my house is bigger than yours").  One said the homes didn't have windows, the other said they did have windows but the walls had fallen down in that portion.  I guess there are different ways to interpret the same remains.

One thing I thought was cool is that argillite (also called pipestone) is found in this area.  Apparently there are only a few places in the U.S. that has pipestone deposits.  The Boy Scout camp that my son went to (and I went to one year) has a pipestone award.  It’s a big deal and requires doing quite a few things.  Not everyone get the award.  I earned a first year pipestone while my son has a five year pipestone.  Ah, memories.

Psychics and Crystals

Sedona is an interesting place.  The scenery is gorgeous, but the people are so unique.  There are lots of psychic and crystal shops along with some very expensive spas.  There are supposed to be four vortexes where osychic energy is channeled and the whole town is saturated with this energy.  Supposedly you will feel full of energy or uplifted or dizzy or something.  We were in or near a couple of the vortexes.  I have to admit I was a bit dizzy.  Of course it could be from climbing the hill and being out of breath.  Or just being a blonde!

One of the problems is that there are a lot of people hiking the trails around Sedona.  It’s hard to find a parking spot.  The trails were busier than many we've hiked before.  In one, we shared the trail with mountain bikes, which can be difficult.  But the people were very friendly.  We had people telling us where to find vortexes or cheering me on (sometimes I have problems climbing when I can’t reach the next toe hold) or just being friendly.

Impact!

We stopped at Meteor Crater today.  They advertise this as the best preserved and first proven meteorite impact site.  It’s big.  They say that 20 football fields would fit in the base and a 60-story building would not reach the rim.  At the bottom they have a 6’ high wood astronaut (the astronauts going to the moon trained here) that can only be seen with binoculars. It's on the right side of the fence near the flag. 

 While the 50,000 year old crater is big, the meteor was only 150 feet diameter.  Most of this broke up so the picture shows the biggest meteorite they ever found.

Jackrabbits and lizards and snakes…Oh my!

Our next stop was Homol'ovi State Park.  As soon as we stopped at the visitor center we saw a sign directing us to walk around the side of the center and enter the back because there were rattlesnakes on the stairs!  OK…that’s good to know.  We didn’t see them (there were supposed to be 4 snakes living there) but after that it made it interesting to take a hike.  Every time something moved we were sure it was a rattlesnake. The good part is that we were much more observant and instead saw lizards and quite a few jackrabbits.

There are early Hopi ruins here.  Most of the pueblos we see are either ruins (maybe a foot or two of wall) or reconstructions.  Sadly, there has been a lot of looting of artifacts, but we saw more chards of pottery at this site than any of the other pueblos we’ve seen.   Someone has picked them up and placed them on rocks so you see the general area they came from and the range of colors and techniques.  Very cool!

By the way, we found out scientist interpret the petroglyph in the last post as a blue heron holding a frog.  Personally, I think a giant bird holding a guy is much more exciting.

Painted Desert

Petrified Forest is a fairly big park.  A couple of days ago we visited the south portion where we saw most of the petrified wood.  This time we visited the north portion which includes the painted desert.  Wonderful views!

From two of the stops you can see petroglyphs. After being in the area for awhile it seems that every time a rock has desert varnish (a natural coating), someone is going to put a petrogylph on it.  But this one was fun.  I'm not sure I want to meet this bird in a dark alley.  Eating a man?

It’s always fun to meet people while traveling.  At this park you drive a long road through the park and stop at various overlooks or trails.  At each stop we saw two brothers who were going the same way.  Got to talk to them a bit and found out that one brother just finished his Ph.D. in biochemistry while the other brother was working on his dentistry degree. Their parents were both medical doctors and one brother was married to a doctorate with a doctorate mother-in-law.  He said, with a smile, instead of “Congratulations” from his family on his earning his Ph.D. it was “What took you so long?”  Funny!

Johnny Depp in the “The Lone Ranger”

Yesterday we went to Canyon de Chelly in Arizona.  There were LOTS of things to see in this national monument.  First, the canyon is gorgeous.  The picture shows Spider Rock.  It represents the home of an important God to the Navaho people.  It also has been used as the background in several commercials.

 Second, we saw many Ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings or ruins.  Most were seen in the distance using binoculars.  It was bizarre at first seeing how small they were being so far away.  We saw this ruins (called the While House due to the color of one of the walls) when we hiked down to the bottom of the canyon.

Third, we saw current Navaho life.  The park exists in Navaho Nation.  Many locals were visiting or working today.  While most national parks do not allow anyone to live in the park area or to sell items, this one is different.  Homes were all along the road and someone was selling native art at all the stops for overlooks and even along the trail.   Plus, many people will also take an all-day ride with a local guide.  At one point we were climbing out of the canyon and could hear a flute playing native music in the canyon below us.  Wonderful!

Fourth, we saw local wildlife.  Not wild animals as much as sheep, goats, horses, and dogs that walked across the road wherever they wanted.  John definitely had to keep watch.  I believe the Navaho consider the area communal property so animals may graze wherever they want.

 Let’s see, fifth, we got some great exercise hiking to the base and climbing back up.  Not really that difficult of a hike, instead it was fun.

Finally, and this is the really cool part, they were filming “The Lone Ranger” in the park while we were there.  We didn’t see Johnny Depp, though we met someone who saw him and his horse (he’s Tonto).  We did get to see cameras filming background shots.  The 1st picture shows a camera on a boom with several crew members. The 2nd picture shows a camp with lights nearby and a tent (for meals?). There were at least a couple camps for the crew both in the canyon and in the local town.  I read that the hotels were booked up with crew members.  Most of the people at the park knew this was happening so everyone was really friendly and asking “Have you seen anything?”  We met one guy who said he never heard of Johnny Depp or Captain Jack Sparrow.  I’m not sure if he was telling us the truth or a paparazzi playing dumb, but I guess it’s possible.

Exciting day!

Beating “The Curse”

According to an oft-repeated story, if you take a piece of petrified wood from the national park you will be cursed. In the visitor center you can find letters written by people who have sent back pieces of rock that they took so that their cursed life will now be better. Apparently they get back a piece in the mail every other day. Things like “lost a job”, “death in the family”, and "You're right, it's a curse to take wood from the forest. My girlfriend of three years finished with me on the drive home. So here's your damn wood back." Some pieces are returned after years of “bad luck”.

The solution is to buy a piece at one of the many shops outside the park. The pieces are from land outside the park. The biggest shop is amazing and perhaps sad on how much of the petrified wood can be found in just this one shop. The things you can buy are so cool and varied. Tables that cost $12,000 or fossils that cost only $1. So now I have a few very small pieces without any curse!

BTW, here’s “Wild Bill”. It’s a 2-600 million year old alligator that they had in the shop. Not sure why there’s such a large time range. But cool!

Petrified Forest

I had three places I really wanted to visit this year.  These are places I’ve heard about for years.  Carlsbad Caverns was one…and it was great.  Soon we should be going to Arches National Park.  Petrified Forest is another.  Very neat!

In case you didn’t know, the trees aren’t standing.  These are trees that were washed into a swampland millions of years ago.  Ash and silt filled the swamp.  Over time silica replaced the wood.  The trees are revealed as water or wind erodes the hills.  Some look just like the original tree while others are gorgeous with different colors.  Many are over three foot diameter and over 20 feet long (several are much longer).

Blown Away By It All

Wind means so much more when you’re outside.  Instead of being curled up reading a book, we hiked to the top of Inscription Rock at El Morro National Monument.  It was so windy that I tried to walk low to keep my center of gravity low but was pushed around several times.  It made it more exciting, though the wonderful views and a great trail was enough to make me happy. 

There is a large pueblo on the top.  Only a portion of it has been uncovered.  There was a lot of discussion on how they prefer the site to be left as is since older (or even current) archeological projects may damage the site or lose important evidence.

At the base of the rock is a pool of water without a spring but just from water draining off the rocks.  It was one of the few places with water in the area so European people started coming here starting with the Spaniards in the 1600’s and then people coming west.  The smooth sandstone rock alongside it has petroglyphs along with many inscriptions.  It’s amazing how much work people put into these.  Plus, I’m amazed at the quality of the work.  I’m not sure how many people today could inscribe rock with this quality.

Lost in Space

One thing that is happening on this trip is that we are not just visiting areas we’ve dreamed of visiting but we’re visiting places we’ve never even heard of before.  El Malpais is one of those places.  About 3,000 years ago lava flowed over this area.  We took a hike on top of the lava (now basalt) today.  It’s bizarre and a bit scary since there are cracks all over that you just have to step or jump over.  Also, while a path on dirt is fairly apparent, it's hard to mark a path on lava.  They put cairns (piles of rocks) along the path.  You're supposed to keep at least one in sight at all times so you don't get lost.  Well, we didn't get lost, exactly, but we skipped over a major portion of the path then had to back track.  Either way, it was a different type of hike for us.

The area also had sandstone cliffs including a large arch.  Bizarre mixture of geology in this area.

Blowing in the Wind

Today was fun.  The bad news is that GPS lady got us lost again.  The good news is that she took us on road with a dust devil.  Just after we passed, it crossed the road right behind us.  Neat!

Oops!

We stopped at a wonderful little mineral museum with shelves of minerals and rocks from both the area and the world.  It is part of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology so there were educational sections like gold, silver, and copper ores or crystal shapes.   Plus there were some excellent intricate fossils.  I took several pictures ready to share on this blog.  When I got to the next stop I was taking a few pictures.  At one point I took a really bad picture.  In deleting this picture I accidently deleted all of my pictures of that day.  Oops!

Our next stop was the Very Large Array (VLA).  This is 27 radio telescopes in a Y-formation that can be positioned as far as a 13 miles radius.  This is essentially equal to a radio telescope that has a 13 mile radius.  It’s also part of a Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA) that has radio telescopes from New England to California.  So it’s pretty amazing to see some of the pictures of galaxies and such.  The details of the complex like moving the telescopes into place were also interesting.

If the pictures look familiar it's because several movies like Contact and Independence Day used them as back drop.  Pretty cool!  BTW, the weather was pretty interesting too.

The Masters

OK, I’m not going to write about the Masters.  But John is enjoying watching it this afternoon!  It's not all about traveling and sightseeing. 

Earlier today we visited two places in Albuquerque.  The first was a balloon museum.  While a bizarre topic, it really was quite interesting.  The town has a very large balloon festival in October.  Several local people have set world records like crossing the Atlantic in a gas balloon for the first time.  It was fun since they had several displays where you can heat up a small balloon to fly it or try to fly on a large video game display. 

By the way, one display discussed an early balloon flight that landed near Roswell and was mistaken for an alien ship.  It says "...to detect sound waves resulting from Soviet weapon tests...A balloon launched in June of 1947 is believed to be the cause of the Roswell UFO incident."  Lots of different viewpoints out there!

Our second visit was to the Petroglyph National Monument.  We’ve seen quite a few petroglyphs now but this was another national park to add to our list.  Plus, there were many petroglyph shapes we hadn’t seen before.  Neat!