Imagine that.....we're camping and it's raining!!
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Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Hiking
Got a late start Saturday. Everyone was exhausted from the trip.
Bingo again drove the whole way. We fixed the motion sickness for Ali - she uses the Seabands and they work like a charm. Unfortunately, Bingo doesn't (won't) use them.
While Bingo was working, Ali and I took a hike to the Nature station. It was just over a mile in the noontime sun. It is amazing how little you can sweat in 90+ degree heat... Even Ali noticed that she wasn't sweating! Don't worry, we drank plenty of liquids. The highlight of that hike was seeing (and taking a picture of) a Road Runner. Very cool!
After Bingo Finally got ALL the information she needed for work (someone who will remain nameless, Doug) forgot to turn in their timesheet on time. We decided to go to a different state park nearby. Apparently, we did not learn our lesson of judging distances here, though this time we knew the mileage, we forgot about the mountains! The road was narrow and filled with hairpin turns.
The scenery while driving was spectacular. Limestone mountains provided the foreground to the storm clouds in the not-so-distance. Park Rangers stop and count every car going to Sitting Bull Falls State Park (there is not much parking). We missed the rain, but got at least 2 warnings about rain and flash flooding.. Great start to a hike...
The falls were kind of cool, water coming out of seemingly nowhere and spraying to the ground a couple hundred feet below. The pools at the bottom were kind of slimy, but people were still swimming...yuk!
We took a short hike up the trail to the top of the falls and a little beyond. It was really steep and SOMEONE forgot her ankle brace, so we did not go very far. Also, as I found out later, one of the trail signs read 'Watch out for cougars'. After I stopped laughing, turning back early made more sense.
It was a good time with great scenery, though!
...and we missed all the rain.
Windy and threatening at camp for dinner. It's been a good day.
Bingo again drove the whole way. We fixed the motion sickness for Ali - she uses the Seabands and they work like a charm. Unfortunately, Bingo doesn't (won't) use them.
While Bingo was working, Ali and I took a hike to the Nature station. It was just over a mile in the noontime sun. It is amazing how little you can sweat in 90+ degree heat... Even Ali noticed that she wasn't sweating! Don't worry, we drank plenty of liquids. The highlight of that hike was seeing (and taking a picture of) a Road Runner. Very cool!
After Bingo Finally got ALL the information she needed for work (someone who will remain nameless, Doug) forgot to turn in their timesheet on time. We decided to go to a different state park nearby. Apparently, we did not learn our lesson of judging distances here, though this time we knew the mileage, we forgot about the mountains! The road was narrow and filled with hairpin turns.
The scenery while driving was spectacular. Limestone mountains provided the foreground to the storm clouds in the not-so-distance. Park Rangers stop and count every car going to Sitting Bull Falls State Park (there is not much parking). We missed the rain, but got at least 2 warnings about rain and flash flooding.. Great start to a hike...
The falls were kind of cool, water coming out of seemingly nowhere and spraying to the ground a couple hundred feet below. The pools at the bottom were kind of slimy, but people were still swimming...yuk!
We took a short hike up the trail to the top of the falls and a little beyond. It was really steep and SOMEONE forgot her ankle brace, so we did not go very far. Also, as I found out later, one of the trail signs read 'Watch out for cougars'. After I stopped laughing, turning back early made more sense.
It was a good time with great scenery, though!
...and we missed all the rain.
Windy and threatening at camp for dinner. It's been a good day.
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Also, please check out the Westward Ho! Photostream. That is where all the pictures are. I update those as well.
Adventures in NM.
Adventures in NM. We got to Carlsbad in the early evening Friday night, mountain time. This time, we are staying at a state Park, Brantley Lake state Park. Much more to our liking, but the drive off of the main road was much further than it appears. That will be a running theme. As much as we tried to prepare ourselves, it is really just very big out here.
At our last pit stop, we discovered flying ants in the trailer...lovely. So, after initial setup of camp, we went off to find the Boy Scout General Store (Walmart). It is just in Carlsbad...somewhere. We tried to stop on the way to camp, but the GPS on my phone took us to an address with no stores at all. This time, we went out specifically to find it and using the Actual GPS (Gopher). Well, much to our dismay, this took us WAY away from ANY civilization... Note to self: don't trust GPS completely. So, since we were not near any main street and didn't trust Gopher we tried the phone again. There was a second Walmart on Google Maps, so we tried that. It at least got us back to the main road, but no Walmart. We made a left turn and drove for a minute before Ali found our destination! Time to find the bug bomb.
By the time we headed for home it was very late, especially after a long drive. Time to go to bed for the night, but not until after capturing the Moon over Carlsbad!
At our last pit stop, we discovered flying ants in the trailer...lovely. So, after initial setup of camp, we went off to find the Boy Scout General Store (Walmart). It is just in Carlsbad...somewhere. We tried to stop on the way to camp, but the GPS on my phone took us to an address with no stores at all. This time, we went out specifically to find it and using the Actual GPS (Gopher). Well, much to our dismay, this took us WAY away from ANY civilization... Note to self: don't trust GPS completely. So, since we were not near any main street and didn't trust Gopher we tried the phone again. There was a second Walmart on Google Maps, so we tried that. It at least got us back to the main road, but no Walmart. We made a left turn and drove for a minute before Ali found our destination! Time to find the bug bomb.
By the time we headed for home it was very late, especially after a long drive. Time to go to bed for the night, but not until after capturing the Moon over Carlsbad!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wind turbines
Is this a considered a windmill? These things grow like weeds here. Cactus and yucca are everywhere. Finally see some flat landscapes, though Bingo swears the road is not flat yet.
Nearing the 'end' of I-20. Leaving TX shortly after that.
Until then...
WH - 27May2010
Hello World! Sorry for the micro-blogging earlier, trying to get some thoughts out there quickly. I think those come out better with a picture attached, so I will work on that. We saw Longhorns for the first time, pretty cool... Also, our travel time did not consider Dallas rush hour, although it could have been much worse. I have never seen so many interchanges on such a short stretch of road before. Atlanta names all the interchanges that big (Spaghetti Junction and Cobb Cloverleaf), I wonder if Dallas Metroplex has done the same?
Today was an interesting day. We started in Meridian, MS and traveled through LA and into the Great State of Texas, ending just East of Fort Worth, TX in Aledo at an RV Park. Nothing exotic, fairly typical. I'm not usually a fan of concrete camping, but the pavement is nice because the kids can skate a little bit. That's nice after such a long ride...about 8 hours. We made it through a little construction and Dallas rush hour with minimal delays! This will probably be the best driving day of the whole trip. It was fairly flat and good roads. The worst thing was the caravan of vans, wanted to stay together, but could not keep a constant speed, very frustrating. I wonder if people should have to learn about momentum to pass the driving exam...
The kids were patient in the car. They watched several movies and read or sewed (never thought I'd write that!). Bingo drove...the whole way, of course. Me, I got to work. The connection was pretty consistent, only a few drops in service. I never thought I would miss the size of a cubicle, but working from a passenger's seat can be pretty cramped. Oh well, it's going to be worth the trouble. The kids are excited that school's out. We're all excited that the caverns are just ahead. Then on the AZ and Aunt Merrellene and cousins! Maybe a trip to Ping (the budding golfers are thrilled - Alex has even 'friended' Ping).
I excited for some time off work after tomorrow. Today was a weird day, at work. I had to give a presentation to transfer my job to another company. People on the conference call were in Boston, Lansing, Mumbai, and San Antonio. Oh, yeah...and riding down the road on Our Hwy 20 Ride! I have to finish my presentation tomorrow. Fortunately, I think we will stay at the RV park until I am done.
Only 7-8 hours to Carlsbad from here. We are not due there until Saturday.
I added some pictures to an album and will get that on the blog somewhere. Alos will get the kids to write something, Ali has already started, Alex...well that will probably revolve around food...
Thanks to our offiial followers, David, you win the prize for the first! Dea and Ute, Hep you enjoy! Feel free to comment, I will feel free to ignore or not ;-)
Until tomorrow!
Today was an interesting day. We started in Meridian, MS and traveled through LA and into the Great State of Texas, ending just East of Fort Worth, TX in Aledo at an RV Park. Nothing exotic, fairly typical. I'm not usually a fan of concrete camping, but the pavement is nice because the kids can skate a little bit. That's nice after such a long ride...about 8 hours. We made it through a little construction and Dallas rush hour with minimal delays! This will probably be the best driving day of the whole trip. It was fairly flat and good roads. The worst thing was the caravan of vans, wanted to stay together, but could not keep a constant speed, very frustrating. I wonder if people should have to learn about momentum to pass the driving exam...
The kids were patient in the car. They watched several movies and read or sewed (never thought I'd write that!). Bingo drove...the whole way, of course. Me, I got to work. The connection was pretty consistent, only a few drops in service. I never thought I would miss the size of a cubicle, but working from a passenger's seat can be pretty cramped. Oh well, it's going to be worth the trouble. The kids are excited that school's out. We're all excited that the caverns are just ahead. Then on the AZ and Aunt Merrellene and cousins! Maybe a trip to Ping (the budding golfers are thrilled - Alex has even 'friended' Ping).
I excited for some time off work after tomorrow. Today was a weird day, at work. I had to give a presentation to transfer my job to another company. People on the conference call were in Boston, Lansing, Mumbai, and San Antonio. Oh, yeah...and riding down the road on Our Hwy 20 Ride! I have to finish my presentation tomorrow. Fortunately, I think we will stay at the RV park until I am done.
Only 7-8 hours to Carlsbad from here. We are not due there until Saturday.
I added some pictures to an album and will get that on the blog somewhere. Alos will get the kids to write something, Ali has already started, Alex...well that will probably revolve around food...
Thanks to our offiial followers, David, you win the prize for the first! Dea and Ute, Hep you enjoy! Feel free to comment, I will feel free to ignore or not ;-)
Until tomorrow!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Back to the future?
LOL OK, no more Alabama jokes. Central Time for vacation...Eastern for work. I'm already. Tired.
On the road again...
Alex got done with testing early, so we saved 45 minutes! We'll need it eventually.
We're excited as all get out.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
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