Heads, Carolina (10-08-22)

 As I debated the title for this post, I couldn’t get the words to a particular song out of my head, soooo….(google Cole Swindell- She Had Me At Heads Carolina)

I know I just wrote about going East but now we are going west- but I guess I should first write about what we did in North Carolina, since that’s probably a post in and of itself.

Our week with Mike and Julie was a whirlwind of activity…

During the day, we did several hikes, including two in Stone Mountain State Park (not to be confused with Stone Mountain in Georgia).

Our first hike the four of us took a 4.5 mile loop to visit Wolf Rock.

The other hike we did in the park was done differently. To hike the Stone Mountain Trail loop is 5.5 miles with 1000 ft of gain.  Paul and I hiked the loop, and Mike and Julie made it an out an back hike, and we met partway, at a waterfall, where we had lunch.

On our trail, it seemed like if it wasn’t stairs, it was a cable to help you keep your footing on the steep climb.

The views from Stone Mountain itself were pretty awesome.

Once we came off the mountain, we got some views of it from down below.

Eventually we had to descend 300 steps to get to the waterfall where we were meeting Mike and Julie.

…and the four of us finished the hike together!  It worked out very well.

When we weren’t hiking we were still adventuring.  Mike showed us the nearby cabin that used to belong to his parents, and we drove up to a lookout on the Blue Ridge Parkway to watch for migrating birds.

The evenings were full of Happy Hours and shared dinners.

Sometimes it was just the four of us and sometimes we met up with some of their friends- what a great group of people.

Our last night there, the four of us cooked a Mexican Feast for everyone.

Although we thought about extending our stay, we also need to get back west, and we have done the fast dash so many times, we wanted to be able to stop along the way and see some stuff- so, I looked online and snagged 3 nights in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

We have only been to this park once and it rained the entire time we were there, so with good weather predicted, we were hoping to see what we couldn’t see last time-the main thing being the views from Clingmans Dome.

We waited our turn for a spot in the parking lot, and then we, along with thousands of other people, walked up the paved trail to the lookout. The views are pretty spectacular, and so, worth the crowds.

We were happy, however, that we knew about the “back trail” from the parking lot to the dome.

It had the advantage of being, longer, unpaved, and almost deserted. So that’s the way we went back.

We continued along the scenic road, stopping at lookouts whenever we saw a view we liked.

After one day in the park Paul made a decision. He was done with the crowds. 

We pulled out the park map and chose an area  to explore that seemed more off the beaten path for our second day in the park.  We chose a huge loop that took most of the day but we were fine with that.

We encountered very few people along this route- 4 wheel drive recommended. It wasn’t the most exciting drive, but that’s ok- I spent most of my time looking for bears. Nope, didn’t see one.

Most of the people we did see were at the small visitor center. We noticed a lot of people standing in a field, taking pictures of something. As we drove by, of course, we checked it out. Deer.  All I could think was that these people don’t get out of the city much.

We found a short hike to another lookout tower- this one called Look Rock.  The views were great and we saw just 3 people!

The main drag back into the park has the nickname “Tail of the Dragon”. This is one of those “bring it if ya got it” drives.

 It’s a dream drive for anyone in a sports car or on a motorcycle- Paul said it’s banked so well, he enjoyed driving it in the Jeep.  About every 1/4 mile there was someone with a camera and a website name plastered on their vehicle so you could log on and buy their pictures. 

We found a popular pull off and sat to watch the motorcycles and sports cars, many of which were sporting Go-Pros, zip by us, cruising along at a rate considerably over the speed limit. We were chatting with a guy who was driving an electric motorcycle, and this bike pulled up, which is also electric-and belongs to his brother. 

One of the things I did enjoy about Smoky Mountain, is that it reminded me of home (Massachusetts).  The trees are similar, and the rock is similar. I also enjoyed the crisp autumn air, particularly at our campsite, which was in the trees, mere feet from a stream. No matter how cold it gets in Arizona, we don’t get that crisp feeling you get back east. 

But that also means it is cold- and time to move.

Moving East (09-20-22)

 Once we were done Jeeping in Colorado, we headed east.

We had a specific destination in mind- New Orleans.  We have been there several times and didn’t necessarily need to go back, but I had a reason.  

I am a diehard New England Patriots football fan, but also a diehard Tom Brady fan, and (Tom) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were playing the New Orleans Saints on a day we could get there, so we bought tickets and headed in that direction.

 

Our first stop was a repeat visit to our friends Tom and Dianne, on our way out of Colorado.  I was so excited about the fresh veggies from their garden that they were willing to share, that I didn’t get any pictures of Tom and Dianne.  Oh well…we will be back.

Leaving them, it was Labor Day weekend and we snagged a spot at Santa Rosa State Park in New Mexico. We were surprised there was availability at this park on Labor Day weekend, but when we got there and realized the nearby lake is at 7% capacity, we understood why. Instead of swimming, we headed to “The Blue Hole”. 

This is a very small lake- 80 ft in diameter at the surface, and 80 ft deep-its one of the most popular scuba diving destinations in the U.S.  It is a natural artesian well, fed by a spring, with the water cycling out every 6 hours.The water was stunningly beautiful but at 60 degrees I didn’t feel like plunging in,  so we observed for a while and then left to explore the rest of the town.

Our next stop on our way to Louisiana was at our friends’ house in Abilene TX.  Wil is a fraternity brother of Paul’s and we stop and see them whenever we are nearby.  After a terrific dinner our first night, we left them for the day so they could work, and headed to Frontier Texas, a local museum showcasing what the Texas frontier was like, back in the day.

I thought it was interesting that this area was a frontier more than once. Very early on, native Americans peacefully lived in this area, until the Comanche Indians, who had the advantage of access to horses, and the expert ability to ride them, invaded the area and took it over.

It wasn’t long before businessmen from the east discovered that Buffalo hides were valuable and hunted them almost to extinction.  From 40 million strong the buffalo numbers were decimated and they came close to extinction.

The museum had some interesting holographic images of people who told their personal story, that made the history lesson more interesting.

After leaving Wil and Gayle, we spent one night on the road before arriving at Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville LA, for a week.  We have been here once before and I have to say- Betty’s is a unique experience.  Unfortunately for us, this time around, Betty was on vacation, so not there, and in fact, we were the only guests in the RV Park.  Betty did call us twice to make sure we were having a good time. Her friend Brenda filled in for her,and we had a great time getting to know her, and her dog, Hitch.

After a month of being busy in Colorado, we were ready for some “down” time and found it difficult to get moving every morning. We did manage to do a few things in the week we were in Abbeville, but not many-

The most important thing we wanted to do is head to Buck and Johnny’s for a rip-roaring Zydeco breakfast.  The music was awesome, but the service was terrible –so slow that we never got a chance to dance before they closed.  Next time, we will be the first ones in the door.

Our other major outing was to Rip Van Winkle gardens.  This property was originally the home of Joseph Jefferson, who, it is said, played the role of Rip Van Winkle over 5000 times (in the early 1800s), so its no surprise that the gardens are named Rip Van Winkle Gardens.

The property was eventually sold to John Bayless, who soon sold the salt mine beneath the land and lake (to Diamond Crystal), and built a new, expensive home along the banks of the lake.  In 1980 a Texaco drilling rig, located on the lake, pierced the caverns of the salt mine, flooding the entire mine. The resulting vortex swallowed the entire lake, 65 acres of land, 5 barges, 2 drilling rigs, and Bayless’s brand new house.  All that remains of the house is the chimney. Remarkably, no one died.

Paul had heard the story of the vortex, so it was pretty neat to be here and see where it happened, first hand.  When I did a web search, pictures and videos showed up of the actual disaster, but there were no clear pictures worth sharing (google Lake Peigneur disaster). 

The gardens themselves were ok, and included the original house,  but it was clear that we were past peak growing season here.

Pretty much the only other thing we did all week was go out to dinner at a restaurant that had live music.  I had the most relaxing time that I have had in a long time at a restaurant. I told the waitress we were not in a rush and she paced the meal perfectly.

I laughed at the menu, because on one side of it, there was literally nothing I was willing to eat.

But after a beer or two, I did try alligator bites, and determined that they tasted “like chicken”.

There was a one man band, playing music I enjoyed, so the whole night was a “win”.

And then we arrived in New Orleans.

As soon as we bought our tickets to the “Saints” game, we booked an RV park.  It’s only one mile from the Superdome, and we have stayed there before, so we were happy to be walking distance from both the superdome, and Bourbon Street.

We have surprisingly discovered that we are over Bourbon Street, but we did walk to a restaurant on St. Peter’s street called The Gumbo Shop- we both had Jambalaya that was delicious. 

We met several people at the RV park who were also there for the game (mostly Saints fans) and we were happy to hear that they planned to walk to the game as well. Even still, we did a test walk the day before, just to make sure.  It took us 18 minutes to get to the stadium.

I knew this was probably (hopefully?  he needs to retire) the last time I would see Tom Brady play, so we paid to get decent seats.

To our surprise, a “hockey” style fight broke out during the game.  Although not physically involved, I could see from the sidelines, that TB12 was definitely part of the fracas.  

The team, and Brady, didn’t play their best, but they ended with a win, which is mostly what counts, so I was happy.

I promised the couple in this picture that I would share the photo on my blog…..Although they were the ONLY ones standing, and several people behind them had asked them to sit down, they refused, continuing to block everyone’s view.

As far as our trek eastward, the term “in for a penny, in for a pound” came to mind. Our good friends Mike and Julie are spending the summer in North Carolina, a “mere” 800 mile drive from New Orleans, so, yep, we decided to beeline there to spend a week with them before heading back west. 

Jeeping Colorado 2.0 (8-31-22)

 Yankee Boy Basin 2.5

The Yankee Boy Basin 4x4 trail is only about 12 miles long and leaves from the Ouray area and travels through some spectacular scenery.  We had heard that the last few miles is the best- but also the most difficult. Still, we were hoping we could make it.

We got as far as an area that resembled a parking lot, where we, along with a bunch of other people, stopped to have lunch.  The sign nearby stated that 4x4, high clearance and short wheel base are recommended beyond this point, so we walked up the road to check it out. 

Paul decided we had driven far enough, and we understood why there were so many cars in this spot.  We watched this truck coming back from the difficult section- his rear tire was 2 feet off the ground.

There is a hiking trail nearby, so we took that, about a half mile, to Wrights Lake.  A half mile doesn’t sound like much but we were going up hill and it was over 12,000 feet. Since the weather looked threatening (and cold) we wore our raincoats, and we did indeed get rained (and hailed) on.

This is the view from the hiking trail, looking at the section of road that we did not drive.  We watched these cars barely move for about 20 minutes, and then one of them decided he couldn’t make it and started backing down the hill.

I must be getting a little used to these “roads” since this one didn’t bother me…..too much.

I try not to look down, but look at the scenery around me- which was gorgeous.

Clear Lake 2.0

I admit I was happy the Clear Lake drive is rated a 2.0, which means its a little easier, less bumpy. I actually enjoyed this trip.  Usually I like the way home a little better, because I know better what to expect, and this was no exception to that.

There were still shelf roads on this trail but nothing outrageous.

Once we got to the lake, which was gorgeous,  it was time for lunch.  We walked around for a bit, and chatted with several people before heading back.

Its really cool actually, how the view going in one direction can be so different from the view going the other way.

We made a couple of stops on the way back….one to check out a waterfall…

and one to check out this guy…

Corkscrew Pass 2.0

The day we drove Corkscrew Gulch (we never made it as far as the pass) was a busy day because in addition to the 4x4 trail, we had a ghost town to explore and a hike to do- because of that, and also because we met people along the way who said the road ahead was sketchy, we drove a few miles and turned around.

This area seemed greener than some other areas, but maybe because we were at a slightly lower elevation, so, not above the tree line.

The hiking trail we were doing is called Grey Copper Mine Trail.  It’s 5 miles long, with 1700 feet of gain.  A little daunting, but if we made it to the end, there was some mining remnants, apparently. In any case, we set out, determined to pace ourselves and go as far as we could.

Along the way we passed a waterfall, but after the really nice ones we have seen lately, this was a little ho-hum.

I was very proud of us that we did indeed make it to the top, because even though it turned out to be a little disappointing because the mine is an active claim, and off limits, it made me feel more confident about possibly hiking to Havasu Falls next year.

On the way down, we caught sight of several elk.  I was surprised that they were aware of us, even though they were really far away.

Once we were back down the mountain, we went to check out Ironton Townsite.  The town was founded in 1883 and at one time had over 100 buildings.

After many years of on and off again mining, due to metal prices, the town was finally declared a ghost town in the 1960s.

Ophir Pass 2.0

Our final 4x4 ride before leaving the area, was Ophir Pass- and this time we made it over the pass itself.

I was feeling pretty comfortable an enjoying the scenery quite a bit, until I realized that one side of the pass is easy, and the other is not so easy- and of course, we had already done the easy part.

We stopped and chatted with a USFS worker going the other way, and when we expressed surprise at seeing him on this road, he grinned and said it cuts 1.5 hours off the trip from Silverton to Ouray- and with his vehicle, he was more than happy to take the shortcut.

My biggest surprise was that the town of Ophir is actually alive and well.  There are no stores etc but its definitely a thriving community of summer homes.

There is a hiking trail just outside town simply called “waterfall trail” but after about a half hour we realized we would not be able to figure out how to get to the falls. So, we left and went to nearby Trout Lake to have our lunch.

We have moved on from Colorado, and also from the Jeeping part of our summer- on to different kinds of fun.....