Woof! A Dog Friendly National Park!!

Trekking to the North and the West...we find ourselves first in California, then off to Arizona and now, nearly in Utah or Nevada.  All of it is within our boundary created by availability of sunshine and warm temperatures...so, where are we? (Remember the "Sun and 70 Rule"?)

Up in northern Arizona is a treasure belonging to America's National Parklands:  Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park.  We noticed this when we drove the new motorhome back to  San Juan Island from Mississippi in November of 2011.  We had no time to stop.  Now, in 2014, we aim the Breeze for the south entry gate and arrive on a Friday morning.

Steve gets up close and personal with petrified log

The first stop is an area called the Trail of Logs.  We walk the half mile loop featuring ...yes, a trail of logs, but these logs have turned to colorful stone.  Beautiful, beautiful smooth petrified wood....oh, these are not the little pieces of petrified wood you hold in your hand or put in a pocket...they are huge!

Incredible colors!

The park is 28 miles long.  We drive the rig and tow right through, stopping easily at the pull off points.  Here's a first.  We find that this park is "dog friendly!"  The Ranger tells us, feel free to take the dogs with you on the trails, as long as they are leashed.  A dog friendly National Park!

Painted Desert section

The story told here is not just about geology, changing landforms, forests turned to stone or sedentary layers of earth,  but about who has lived on this land and walked this ground before us.  Yes, there is evidence of dinosaurs....many, many dinosaurs.

Double dare?

Archelogical digs have also provided the proof of ancient civilizations....both in petroglyphs and in the walls of the dwelling spaces of an entire village.

Story: Giant bird disciplines the bad children....or, eats frogs...take your pick!

Village as it looks today

Village visitors Steve and Sparky

Just for perspective, here's an idea of how historians see this village around 1100AD.  Sparky says notice the dog please!  (front and center!)

Village life....a LONG time ago

Kiva: Enclosed room used for ceremonies

Five stars for a National Park that welcomes dogs, outside of the cars... provides many short hiking loops with good signage...and sports sunshine and warm temperatures...at least on this day!

We spend a half day here, but with more hiking we could have easily spent the whole day.  For us, it's off toward the Grand Canyon as we continue to aim to the north...and to the west....poco y  poco. (little by little)

Was It All a Dream?

So, IS it all a dream?  This "summer in winter camp for adults"....on a remote stretch of beaches, lining the shore of Conception Bay on the Sea of Cortez, in Baja Sur, Mexico?  The experiences this winter are incredible....both familiar and totally new and exciting...with friends we know and come to know...in a country we know and continue to know more about.  

A little research reminds us that what keeps a brain functioning and happy is to fill it with new experiences, especially with music and language.  What do you think?

The Tres Amigas take off on an Epic Voyage of Discovery, by paddle boarding across Coyote Bay to Isla Coyote.  We choose an early  morning start time, hoping for flat water and no wind.  We get it!

SUP'ers Deb and Nan

Travel supplies....cameras and water bottles and snacks!

Paddles UP!  And they are OFF!

Support boat Norm

Chase boat with Sparky and Steve

We arrive at Isla Coyote!

Deb takes a water break

Jerri takes break

Nan takes break

After a lap around the tiny islets out at the big island, we start back at a liesurely pace.  How about a stop at "Fish Mouth Rock?"

Nan and Jerri in the "Fish Mouth!"

Oh, but once back to the campsites....why not try a little SUP yoga?  Can they do it?

Downward Dog?

Warrior Deb

Deb does Tree (show off!!)

And yes, this is a great morning.  One of many.  Because...the dream goes on...every day with...

Sparky learns to kayak

John and Steve racing around

Nan hard at work, teaching Sparky to relax!

Bullseye sting ray....hanging out

In late January these guys appear back in the bay...and this year I learn to live and let live...more or less...because the water is so nice, I just have to swim...and float...and paddle...and sail...

Ann and Court provide fish tacos!

There are happy hours and dinner gatherings.  There are Oscar nominated movies at the restaurant up the road, and many many Mexican meals "out"...and in the RV too.

Do not forget Spanish class!  Nothing like a class on the beach, under the palms!  Did you know research shows that we learn better if we are having fun?  Really!

Teacher Adrianna at the white board...

OH!  The birthday celebrations....with that silly little tiara still making the rounds, and last year's birthday banners too.  The Coyote Folk keep the traditions, old and new...going!

Queen Glenna

Queen Barb and King Chris

Queen Bessy and King Normando

You can't accuse these people of not knowing how to have fun!  Lots of FUN!  Here's one more!

Pedro...of course!  See the tiera?

And then....the whale sharks.  Many, many whale sharks...sometimes as many as five at the same time!  We are continually in awe and they show up, day after day....for a month!  Oh my!.

Sharky Jr.

Problems?  How can it be?  The time is drawing near to....start the long crawl back up to the north.  Hard to believe. 

 Waking from the dream? 

 I don't really want to open my eyes.

Ready, Set...."Jeep!!"

But which way?

We decide before we leave this year we want to check out the backroad out of Mulege that is a loop going to San Jose Magdelena.  A month ago we tried to drive from the north, but the road was blocked about half way.  The floods with the hurricane rolled huge boulders down the canyon.

This first sign was a decoy to get us going in the wrong direction...so we back track and take the other fork in the road.

Jerri the gate girl!

The road goes from a Class 1 off road...to Class 2 after about two hours.  We cut across several rancho properties, always being careful to close every gate we open.

Healthy looking cattle!

The small ranchos in the back country are creatively built without a lot of materials.  Even so, the cattle look good.  Many are tagged.

Picnic time

We stop for lunch after about 3 hours.  This is a nice shady spot, in the middle of a rancho.  Two motor bikes race by...which, strangely, we never see again.

Fancy signs for way back "nowhere"

We finally find a sign indicating that it's "only" 80 km more over to the west side of Baja...San Estanislao, which is on our way,  turns out to be a ramshackle abode, maybe originally a small travel trailer...and a fenced area, and the Exmision is the ruins of the mission we were looking for, but never saw.  We did pass by it.  I think.  :)

Local

Cattle and burros and sometimes goats show up randomly.  Later in the day we come across some cowboys riding back to ranchos.

Yikes...the drop off...

Class 3 road?  Road?

As the road deteriorates, Nan can be heard saying...several times actually: "I DO NOT vote for this!" or..."Hey, it will take us three and 1/2 hours to get back out...and it's 2:30....and..."  Yet, again: "I do not...VOTE for THIS!"

Take a look at the road ahead....see that little line on the other side of the canyon?  And no, we haven't reached the boulders blocking the roadway yet...YET....but...no one, Nan is sure, NO ONE has been on this road in the last three years...or around the same holes, or wash outs....

Ribbon of road...

We finally stop, look ahead...and give it up.  Hard for the drivers...easy for Nan.  And Sparky and Skipper.

Can we go home now?

With another possible 3 hours back, we finally turn around at 2:45 p.m.  And besides, the Class 3 road is definitely unrated now.

As so often, the road out is "faster" than the road in.  This day we see only two other vehicles...rancho trucks...and two motor cross country bikes.  Oh....and three cowboys on horses or donkeys.  Take a look at the handmade chaps and stirrup guards made from rancho leather!  Amazing!

Baja Vacquero on the backroad past Mulege

Safe arrival back on the beach by dark....oh, but first, a stop in Mulege for a hamburgesa at El Candil...also known as "Scotty's"....a local restaurant run by a guy from...wait for it...Oregon!

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Can you guess the boat part?

This wind is up!!!  The waves are down!!  Perfect sailing for the little Snark...so, out goes Nan.  I think, this is great, no big waves, so I won't get wet and the little boat will skim around the bay at racing speed!

Waves, no.  Fluky wind?  Yes.  Getting out was easy as there was a nice 8k breeze blowing off shore. Well, offshore...for about 2 minutes.  Then, on shore.  Then away from shore...then...who knows.  8 knots?  Yes, and suddenly 15k!  Yikes.  Suddenly no wind and becalmed.  Then not becalmed.  I have two good "rides" back and forth and then, all I can think of is getting in.  This is not fun!

Steve takes a turn.  He seems to be racing along out there...I'm hardly paying attention on shore.  Hum.  Maybe I should take a shower or something.  And then, once he's fairly far out there, surprise! No, SURPRISE...a 40k gust!??  What?  The sail disappears...I watch as he gets organized and climbs up on the centerboard to right the little boat.  Almost there.  More bobbing around.  More up and down.  Then another gust.  He's definitely over and the boat is not coming up.  No mast maybe?  The shore crew is alert to a rescue mission....and Pedro launches his boat.  (Remember, he rescued us last year when our engine lost oil, and our oarlocks broke on the motor boat....well, you might not remember, be he does and so do we!!)

Rescue mission crew

Pedro and Chris arrive on scene with the inflatable, Bill and Nick arrive in kayaks.  You can barely see Steve there on the far side trying to deal with the sailboat.

The Snark sailboat is the yellow hull on the right

Pedro has got him in tow now...where's the mast?

Final pusing service provided by Bill

The Snark without her mast....but...

As always, the beach does what the beach does best....Rescue Missions!  Give the beach folks a problem to solve and they go into warp speed at figuring things out....from boats to RV's...to engines...to transportation...to even health issues!

What could possibly go wrong today?  Yes, the sudden powerful gust dumps the boat over.  Yes, he gets it right side up once.  Then another gust!  The second round of pressure on the wooden center board, in order to right the hull, snapped the board in half!  An upside down boat, with sail still "up"...well, upside down...gusty wind, all impossible to bring around again without more hands "on deck."  Or, hands on the water!

And we had to get it all cleaned up and put away in time to head off to the movies....or was it happy hour...or maybe out to dinner...

Another adventure and another project to work on at home over the summer.

Adventure: A challenging experience that turns out well!