Lee's Ferry

5/16/07 We spent night before last at Lee’s Ferry. This is where we will take off when we go on our Grand Canyon Float Trip, next year?

William's Birthday

Road Cracks

Pot Shards
5/14/07 Happy Birthday to William. He is still an active old fart for 64 and I still love him. We are here in Homolovi State Park in AZ. I think they must have hired a construction company connected to the mob to do their roads because they sure got taken for a ride. Looks like the road bed was just scraped off and about 1 inch of reddish road material laid down. According to the volunteer at the VC, the road started cracking the first year. The cracks are so wide they are like nasty speed dips every 20’ or so. Weeds are growing up right through the road and the volunteer said she has had a ground squirrel poke a head up at her through a road crack. The park itself is nice with scenic walks out to the ruins which are covered with fascinating pot shards. People have collected them and laid them out on top of flat rocks (no carrying off of anything) so you can see the coil marks on the back and the pattern marks on the front.

Old Bike Racer

I was talking to a local about all sorts of things and she said her husband had been a bike racer with a British bike team in the 50’s, Michael Meek. He was in the Tour de France a number of times. He had a career ending leg injury that left him sad and somewhat bitter to this day, so that he has a hard time even watching bike races.

New Experiences

5/12/07 Today we went to a lot of the activities held around here at the RV Park, at Doc’s Trading Post across the street and down at the cliff dwellings visitor center. First was the cowboy breakfast, good food, but it was the first Republican fundraiser I ever went to. Lots of interesting conversation! Wm and I certainly held our own. Then we went to the fiber artist demo down at the Visitor Center. Interesting beading demo and yarn dyeing. We did not stay for the quilting demo as we decided to hike to the cliff dwellings. Since it was warm I changed into a tank top and Wm had on a light shirt. As soon as we got up to the cliff dwellings the thunder and lightning started and it was pouring rain and hail. So we just made ourselves at home in the cliff dwellings for about 30 minutes. As we were about to leave we saw Cookie and Santa (not his real nickname, just a descriptor) approaching. They were the volunteers at the City of Rocks here on their day off. They were drenched as the rain had caught them by surprise out on the trail. As we walked back it was slightly cool and damp but not unpleasant. After we got back to the Gila Hot Springs RV Park, we went over to the Trading Post to see the displays and what was for sale. I bought a turquoise ring (Wm’s mother’s day gift to me). I would have liked to buy one of the lovely baskets, but no room for such in an RV. The fry bread sellers were all out so I will make a stab at an Indian Fry Bread Taco for dinner. Mine will be microwaved and not so fried, but I will try for a similar taste.

Cute Sheep

I took some pictures of the sheep in the pasture next to us. There are brown, black and white sheep, probably used for natural wool colors. There are a lot of weavers and fiber artists in Silver City and around.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron Nests

When I woke up this AM I saw a big bird and a nest in a tree on the other side of the sheep field. Upon closer inspection the birds looked like Herons and there were 4 nests in the same tree. A picture does not show much, but there were young in the nests. The Camp Hostess told us that they were Great Blue Herons, but otherwise she was a font of misinformation. She said they were horribly noisy (never heard a peep out of them though a note in a bird book said they can bark like a dog if startled), that they killed trees!!!, and that someone had brought them in (they are a naturally occurring species on the Gila). We also noticed a lot of raptors circling the tree. The herons had to remain vigilant or the hawks would have had a nice baby heron dinner or lunch.

Great Blue Heron

Wm the Ancient Viking

Today we walked down to the river to look at the riverside camping areas. The artistic people who camp there in the summer have made some very interesting junque sculptures. I took Wm’s picture next to one. Wm rode his bike to the cliff dwellings. I opted out as the motion of the bike hurt the left shoulder that has been bothering me.

William again late to dinner

5/11/07 How to Do Things Yourself When Your Spouse Is Not There

This is the tentative title of my Do It Yourself book. Wm took a stroll prior to dinner when a windstorm blew up. The back door blew open and things blew off the table. The paper towels blew out the door and under the bicycles. I was well dressed in a beach dress and had to go out to close the back door and retrieve the paper towels causing the beach dress to do a Marilyn Monroe for the benefit of the guy sitting in the front seat of the road toaster nearby. Wm got back after the wind died down. He had to take shelter in the RV pavilion so he did not blow away.

William in Spa

We are now at Gila Hot Springs RV Park. On the drive up, I noticed that the volunteers in charge of cleanup had done a good job as there were no water bottles or musettes at the side of the road. We have been soaking in the spa almost since arrival. It is a clothing optional private spa. Very nice arrangement. Wm has been taking too many pictures of me, so I took one of him in the spa. Discreet I think.

Wet William

5/10/07 As I was fixing dinner last night a huge black cloud came over and dumped a deluge of rain for about 20 minutes. Naturally dad had been taking a walk and was caught out. He sheltered until the rain was over, but he got a bit chilled since all he had on was his sarong and a vest. He built a huge white man’s campfire after dinner and we sat out and listened to music until late.

Chocolate Flower

I have spotted a few more flowers; chocolate flower (a pretty yellow flower that really smells like chocolate), blackfoot daisy, desert daisy, threadleaf groundsel, and a yellow creeping pea (?). The weather has been partly cloudy. So at times it is warm and sunny and then the wind blows and you might get a splatter of rain.

Texas Horned Lizard

5/9/07 I spotted a Texas horned lizard today. I followed him carefully for a bit. He would get up on a plant with his front legs and open his mouth to sniff for me. Dad was off for a walk and did not get to see the lizard. The volunteer, Cookie, said she had one in the Visitor Center this morning. She was afraid of it and put a box over it until the ranger put it out.

Thoughts

Dad and I were discussing a way for US manufacturers to increase profits. If all the ingredients of a product are US in origin, just put a sticker or label change on the product, such as a pet food, with that information and watch people buy it, even if you charge a bit more. Even if some ingredients were from out of the country, you could still put something on the label if you could certify that all ingredients were tested for safety. Maybe all this bad stuff coming out of China could be a good thing if it meant more return of product procurement to the US. Walmart could have a huge influence here. New slogan “Safe Products at Low Prices.” Of course as dad says there have certainly been problems with US products at times, such as the spinach and beef. But these were not deliberate like the pet food, glycerin and now per Val “Lead Laced Baby Bibs.”

Faywood

Faywood Hot Springs, a favorite camp spot just down the road, is closed and up for auction 6/28. If anybody has a spare million to buy this 1200 acre spread and then a million to fix it up nice and advertise it, they would have a sure money maker. I think if I had the money to buy it, I would just fix it up as a private spa for me, family and friends.

Eating at City of Rocks

We came here to escape the weather (potential snow) that was moving in to Gila Hot Springs and here it is very windy and pelting rain in the desert. Dad went out for a walk and is not due back for an hour! He just got back (early) and said he found a sheltered alcove from the storm, with no snake and great views of the storm. He is now changing out of his shorts and is going back out, hoping for a great sunset? He got back only slightly late for dinner. Even though we shared a large southern fried chicken thigh, the rest of the menu is why I gain weight RVing (rough mashed garlic red potatoes, country gravy, corn, salad, chilled white wine, and a fresh chocolate peanut butter brownie to share.) We eat well on the road.

City of Rocks

5/8/07 We are at City of Rocks a favorite NM State Park. Dad promises to step on no rattlesnakes. We saw a whole herd of antelope on the road in. They were running back and forth as we crept by them taking pictures. Also we have seen rabbits (jacks and bunnies), fat ground squirrels and numerous birds.

I have been checking out the flowers to see what I remembered. I have spotted desert poppies, desert marigolds, purple Tahoka daisy, apache plume rose, claret cup, yellow blooms of prickly pear, desert dandelion, a white mustard (spectacle flower), busters, firewheel daisy, datura, locoweed, purple phlox, ocotillo, globe mallow and fleabane daisy. Also I have seen a few NM or AZ thistle, depending on who is complaining about them. Maybe I will take some pictures.

Firewheels and Busters

Silver City Redux

Jon Should be safely at home and at work again. He felt good the last day of racing but had an unfortunate flat when his support vehicle was helping another member of the team. So he was unable to get back on to the lead group he had been with. Well, he caught back up just as there was an attack that split the group. I gave the fastest high speed feed zone hand off I ever did to him and teammate Peter. He gave a big effort at the end to try to pull Peter up enough to keep him in the money at 25th place, but Peter wound up out of the money anyway with a GC at 27th place.

In this picture from cycling news you can see Jon near the back. He had just joined up after a huge effort when the guys in the front broke it up.

I am just sitting here in the RV watching the drifts of cottonwood fluff blow through. I just washed and cleaned everything in here. But the breeze feels good.

I just saw this article about more poison from China this time directed at babies. I cannot stand it. What kind of a country is this that would poison babies for profit!

Silver City Thoughts

Wm is sleeping in and I am blogging. Today is the crit and Jon was feeling better yesterday. He upped his GC by 50 since the field shattered so badly yesterday.

This is Jon when he was feeling bad on Thursday.

We saw a strange animal walking across the road and up a small bank on our way to Silver City. We stopped the car to get a good look at it. To me it looked like a cotamundi, but I thought they were only in places like Costa Rica. I finally found a reference to cotamundi in this area of New Mexico.

My rant of the day is the lack of food safety with globalization. The Melamine in gluten from China found in a huge amount of pet food should be a wake up call. Buy local and buy organic. Don't count on the FDA to guarantee that food is safe!

Silver City Blues

Jon is not feeling well. Got caught up in a crash caused by a member of the US Military team, who ripped off most of his shorts in the crash and rode on without them. Talk about a full moon in the day time! Jon hurt his knee a bit and also had mechanical problems and his stomach was acting up and he could not eat. He barely made it to the top of the Mogollon. He is just going to hang in there and hope he feels better for the Monster on Sunday. So I decided on some levity for the blog.

"I Miss Bill Clinton"

It doesn't matter what party you belong to -- this is hilarious. From a show on Canadian TV there was a black comedian who said he misses Bill Clinton.

"Yep, that's right - I miss Bill Clinton! He was the closest thing we ever got to having a black man as President.

Number 1 - He played the sax. Number 2 - He smoked weed. Number 3 - He had his way with ugly white women.

Even now? Look at him ... his wife works, and he doesn't! And, he gets a check from the government every month.

Pictures of Monument Valley

We are here in Silver City and will see Jon at the time trial at Tyrone tomorrow. We have a fast internet connection now and will put up a few pictures.


This is the picture Wm took of me down below as he was standing on top of an arch.


This is the picture of Susie the 91 year old weaver.


Here are the three petroglyphs of kokopelli.


Me in front of the three sisters formation.