Joshua Tree National Park
Beautiful
Anzo Borrego sculptures.
Stretches across the road.
That’s it for this trip.
January 12, 2025
Blythe Intaglios
January 11,2025
Too windy to go up the hill, one step forward and 2 blown back.
Stays on the list.
The road is rough but accessible to most vehicles.
And on to Joshua Tree.
Joshua tree north blm for the night.
Edgar and Eleonora
The Crows of White Sands National Monument are a joy to interact with on the dunes.
Of course, it is impossible to look at them and not think of Edgar Allen Poe and quote the Raven “Nevermore” but these birds love to mess with the maintenance volunteers.
They sit on top of the picnic tables and wait for people to put there trash in the bins.
Soon as no one is around they double team the trash cans, one holds the swinging flap open and the other picks out the trash.
And when they are done they just leave it, you can’t teach crows to pack it in and pack it out.
Seriously though these guys are part of the White Sands experience and should be treasured.
Volunteering
and healing.
November-December 2018
Leading up to my first gig volunteering I was excited as a kid in a candy store. It turned out to be everything I expected and more.
The six weeks that I spent at White Sands National Monument was the 1 year anniversary of the hardest six weeks of my entire life. The time that my husband spent in CCU before passing away.
After orientation, my maintenance duties on the sands became my healing tool. All by myself cruising the park picking up trash I cried, re lived and cherished the twenty years I had with my husband. And came away in a much better frame of mind.
If you have never visited White Sands you must add it to your list and you have to experience it early in the morning when the Sands look like diamonds, as the day warms the sparkle is harder to see but it’s still there.
I met the owners and restorers of this VW van named Leroy Brown on their maiden trip from Colorado. They did a great job restoring this beauty.
Thinking about Volunteering? Do it. It is rewarding to help and what a great way to get to know our National Treasures.
Great Sand Dunes
September 2018
I love the San Luis Valley of Colorado and the ride to The Great Sand Dunes National Park from Blanca is below Mt Blanca and as you approach the Park you begin to see the Dunes off in the distance.
I did not stay at the Pinon Flats campground but I did check it out and the views are stupendous.
The visitor center has a film and exhibits and a great deck.
You can walk among the dunes and at certain times of the year there is water from Medano Creek to wade in.
Definitely worth it if you are anywhere near.
Back to Cheyenne WY
July 2018
For most travelers this is a one day drive, but not me. A two-day trip gives me time to go slow and take in the scenery, traveling without a co-driver means I have to stop to get a good look.
This trip to Cheyenne I am staying at AB Camping Park, a good sam park with a wonderful BBQ Restaurant. Even if you don’t park here, you have to come to eat.
While waiting for a decision to be made on my toad, my insurance policy gives me a rental so it’s off to Rocky Mountain National Park for the day.
One thing that I learned on this drive is that I would not like to drive the Ridge Road in my RV, it is narrow, it is high, and I wouldn’t fit in every pull off which I could in my rental car. I also had altitude problems at the Alpine Station.
I did get to capture some nice pics though. This beautiful valley.
And this overlook.
I went back to Cheyenne through the Roosevelt National Forest.
One high point of the day is seeing Elk. I didn’t get to stop to take a pic because the Rangers were herding them away from the highway but it was the first elk I have seen that wasn’t behind a high fence in Texas.
Dinosaurs and The Badlands
June 2018
If you read my earlier post about Agate Fossil Beds then you know I like dinos but mostly the bone kind, however, there seems to be an abundant supply of large green dinosaurs in the Rapid City area.
There is one on the top of a hill in Rapid City that I haven’t found the way up to yet, but it’s on my list.
And then there is this one.
I’m tooling down the rt44 on the way to The Badlands, and this large dinosaur is sitting in the middle of a field. This one I turned around for, so I could get a picture to prove that there are dinosaurs everywhere.
The little town of Scenic is. Next, I got a nice picture of the old Jail but nothing was opened when I went through, but there are signs of life, maybe another time.
Approaching the Badlands National Park, there is excellent scenery even before to enter the park itself.
Once inside it is amazing.
Plenty of trails to hike both short and long and all are ” take your breath away” beautiful.
After stopping at the Visitor Center for my passport stamp and token, I headed back west on the loop road and stopped every chance I could to take in the wildlife.
I did go up to Wall SD but didn’t stop this time it was to busy.