People I've met

He's livin' in the '60s! 

This is Thomas. Thomas and his sweet son Claude, my husband and son and I, spent a day together at Great Sand Dunes National Park. I had to get a picture of his trailer. I look like a doofus because I'm telling my husband how to operate the camera. Have you ever seen such a trailer? I love it! Thomas worked as a radio show host (he has a fabulous deep voice) and now he's a farmer. His wife is a belly dancer and so he and I had plenty to talk about. Would you believe, he decorated that there trailer himself! What talent. You can't see all the wonderful symbols on every side, but they're all genuine ancient southwestern Indian symbols. The spiral for example means life.

I post this particular photograph because I realize how miserably I have failed at keeping any record whatsoever of all the unique people we've met between California, Alaska, and Tennessee. I have snapshots of them in my mind but I know I'm going to forget too many.

We've met other full timers who have been helpful and full of information. At Anza Borrego a couple rolled up our awning for us when we were brand new to trailering. We didn't know you should put the awning up when you leave for the day because winds can come up any time and pull it right off. There was a French lady in the Yukon Territory of Canada, about eighty years old, who took a liking to our son and hugged him a lot and taught him some French words. There was George White who helped us get our satellite dish working.

One woman stands out in my mind. She and I were taking pictures of our families in front of a welcome sign. I don't even remember which sign. Now this is bad! But we got to talking and she said she was on her way to Montana to be in the place where her father grew up. They had been extremely close and now he had died and she was lost without him. She was hoping to feel close to him, to feel better, if only she could go to the place where he was born and grew up. I remember now. We were in Utah. And we talked about the media and I said I was surprised to hear God mentioned on the radio as his name is not usually mentioned on the radio waves in Southern California and she said, well, the language on television in Utah was as bad as she'd heard anywhere. She said she was in such disbelief she even took notes on it! I told her I didn't know that as we have no television. We parted. She walked to her truck and we to ours. But she turned around and came back and hugged me. It's something that I cannot put into words, but we were connected. At that second, in that space and time, we were defintely connected.

I climbed into the truck and immediately wished I had something more. Why am I so slow? But I'm bad with words and I said nothing. My husband said "What did she do that for?" and I said her dad died. She was wearing a blue summer dress and had medium length blonde hair and she was my age, maybe a little older. I hope she found what she needed and what she was looking for. She stands out so much in my mind.

Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Scenic overlook 

This and the following photos are from our one week stay at Mesa Verde. It's one of our favorite parks. It wasn't very crowded at all. The park workers kept saying they were expecting crowds for Labor Day, but they didn't materialize. Perhaps the fuel prices kept people home.

There are only 15 sites with hook-ups and they tend to fill up this time of year, but we got the last one on the day we arrived. It was quiet and beautiful. It's mighty sweet being in the middle of nowhere and having hook-ups to boot. Usually for a stay like this you have to dry camp (as in no water, no electricity, no sewer hook-ups).

A rockin' awesome hike

A rockin' awesome hike 

On our last day in the park we hiked to the top of the mesa in the background of this photo. The sun set when we were at the top though so we had to hurry back down. At night the darkness is very dark in the wilderness!

Hemenway House

Cliff dwellings 

Check it out. Would you live here if you didn't have to? How many people fell to their death just trying to go home? No one knows for certain why the ancient Anasazi lived in the cliffs, nor does anyone know for certain why they left the region in 1300 A.D. as they left no written records. My guess is they were afraid of something, perhaps attack from another tribe.

One of the best dwellings to see is Step House. There was no sun the day I went so my pics are, meh! But it requires no ticket, it's a self-guided tour, and there's a ranger present who can answer questions. It's a fair hike getting there, pretty steep. The tours to the major cliff dwellings are $2.75 per person but we thought our eight year old wouldn't be too keen on the ladders. He's reluctant to get on a regular ladder let alone a ladder with a sheer cliff underneath.

This dwelling is named after Mary Tileston Hemenway. She was a wealthy woman back east who saved Mesa Verde for all of us...and she never even got to see it herself.

Petroglyph

Petroglyph 

The spiral symbolizes life.

Asters 

Gambel oak burnt

Burned Gambel Oak 

There's lots of Gambel Oak throughout the park. There have been fires. I was fascinated by the burned remnants of these trees. They remind me of the joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park in California. I lived in 29 Palms for four years. In 29 at sunset the shapes of the joshua tree resemble people. The burned oak look like they had a story too. I would like to hear....

Mano and metate

Mano and metate 

Used by ancestral puebloan people to grind corn, or rather maize. Not good for the teeth!

Wildflowers on a cloudy day

Wildflowers 

I know it's a plain picture, but my eyes like it.

Rock squirrel in a juniper tree

Cute! 

My handy fold-out pocket naturalist guide tells me that this is a rock squirrel.

I was lucky I saw him and he turned out so sharp! The following photos are all wildlife pics taken during our stay at Mesa Verde National Park. Scenic photo and pictures of the ruins to be uploaded manana.

One lizard

One lizard 

He's not just any lizard. He's a Sagebrush Lizard. (I know, there are lots of them.)

Cottontail rabbit

A cottontail 

Desert Cottontail.

A proud turkey

A proud turkey 

There's a herd of these in the park. ;)

Flock crosses the road

Flock crosses road 

One of them dropped a pretty tail feather on the street which I picked up and kept.

Mule deer fawn

Mule deer fawn 

Still showing spots. They got their name because of those great, big ears. Lots and lots of deer roam through the park and they cruise right through the campsites. The mamas though, they aren't too photogenic. I hate to say so, but they're downright ugly. Their faces, those doe eyes and big ears are pretty, but their fur is very bad. It's spotted and discolored all over.

Son and I

Son and I 

We're learning about pictographs which are painted on rock walls, and petroglyphs which are carved in rock. Those photos coming tomorrow night...

We have a nice couple camping in the space next to us. They're from Washington state. I heard them playing patriotic music in their camper van today. I was sittin' in the street (well it was the best vantage point at that moment) waiting patiently for a set of twin fawns to walk by (which didn't pan out) and when they ran away and I walked back to our site he came over and gave me some dried lavender. It smells wonderful and he says he grows it himself. He said I looked earthy (I do?) and he thought I'd like it. We all like the fragrance, even my husband.

Homemade hairbrush

In a pinch you can always make your own brush 

I think the mother and daughter are pretty. Or are they sisters?

The Anasazi Indians settled in the Mesa Verde (means green table in English) area in Colorado in about 550 A.D. They suddenly left in 1300 A.D. and no one knows why or where they went. It's a mystery. The wondering has always tickled my mind since my first visit here when I was sixteen.

The yucca plant has really sharp leaves. Hikers give the yucca plant a wide berth to avoid those long, sharp leaves.

Great Sand Dunes N.P. in Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Park 

This and the next nine photos are all taken during our stay at Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado.

We drove a mere 80 miles from Pueblo to Alamosa, Colorado. We originally intended to go to Mesa Verde National Park and noticed Great Sands is on the way. This campground must be one of the best kept secrets of the national park system. It's only twelve bucks a night and with my husband's senior discount it's $6.00. Such a deal. There are no hook-ups but that's okay. We'll fill our tank with 40 gallons of fresh water and we'll be good to go for two or three days.

These dunes are the highest in North America. The sand is beautiful. It was only about 78 degrees today but the sand was hot, hot, hot! I know because I was wearing flip flops. They warn you that the sand gets up to 140 degrees in the sun. Tomorrow I intend to exercise a measure of intelligence and wear hiking boots.

About 400 years ago the Spanish came and gave lovely names to many of the natural features here. The mountains behind the dunefield are the Sangre de Cristo mountain range which means blood of Christ.

Colorado's biggest sandbox

Running uphill 

The best thing about the dunes: No fences, no stay-on-trail signage. You can go anywhere you want on these dunes!

We met and made friends with our neighbor in the next campsite who had a son. Above is our son and his friend Claude, running up the dunes in late morning. They had a great time digging in the sand with their shovels and pails. The boys were fast friends and we all hiked together up the dunes this day. We made it two thirds of the way up. The elevation is high here, over 8000 feet, and we were suckin' air trying to walk through the sand! The air is thin and so dry. I kept getting thirsty during our entire stay at Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Blowout grass

Blowout grass survives in small clumps

The seeds of this grass are the favorite food of the Ord's kangaroo rat and the kangaroo rats are the only mammal that make their home in the dune field. In the left forefront of this pic you can see a bit of Indian rice grass. I was in disbelief when the ranger explained that the Native Indians collected the ricegrass seeds and ground them to make bread. Man, those seeds are teensy. That was some hardcore gathering.