This is the second time that this has happened to us. The first time was last year in southern Indiana at a rest stop on I-65 and today at a rest stop along I-75 in northern Kentucky. Both times there was an urgent knock at the door. The only time George left the coach was the first time, so we can’t be certain it was the same. It starts with an urgent knock at the door. There is one man standing outside. He’s nice and friendly and has an air of urgency about him. We’ve heard the following lines: “Michigan, Michigan [View Full Entry]

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Glen Canyon After the Grand Canyon we headed to Page, Arizona, which was to be our base for seeing Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. I find it amazing to look at such a beautiful lake and imagine the canyon that has been submerged. Water is a valuable resource in this area. The dam provides for a more even supply of water throughout the year to the areas surrounding it and downstream. Lake Powell is a big water recreation area. I was surprised at the number of house boats that were docked, it was like small cities! Zion [View Full Entry]

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We left Tucson and headed north to visit Fran near Phoenix. We decided to camp north of the city and camped at Lake Pleasant. It was a very scenic place to camp with the spring flowers coloring the hillsides. We had a lovely couple of days visiting and touring the area before heading further north to Camp Verde. There we visited Kris and Jake. We had a great time visiting and taking excursions to see Jerome, Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona. Grand Canyon The last time we were here was about 15 years ago. There have been some changes since that [View Full Entry]

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Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Today we spent the day touring this wonderful facility. We arrived early in the morning to beat the heat. The animals are supposed to be more active earlier and later in the day, and less active during the hottest part of the day. We started with an orientation tour conducted by a docent. It gave us a lot of good information and helped us to figure out what we wanted to do later. The orientation tour lasted about an hour. Then we toured until lunch time and headed back to our campground a few miles away. It [View Full Entry]

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Bisbee Bisbee was a fun town to visit. We camped within an easy walking distance of the historic area. The history of the town was copper mining, but now it seems to be tourism and art. We ended up staying in Bisbee longer than we had planned, but it was an enjoyable place to stay. Every place is either uphill or downhill, nothing seems to be on the same level due to it’s location on the side of a mountain. One evening we took some stairs to get from one street to the next street and were surprised by how many [View Full Entry]

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Kartchner Caverns State Park This is a new state park and a “new” cavern. It was discovered in 1974 by Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen. They kept it a secret even from the property owners until 1978. A main concern was to protect the cave in it’s pristine condition and this was also shared by the property owners. The cave’s existence became known to the public in 1988 when it was purchased by Arizona State Parks. Then the process began to protect it and develop it. A lot has been learned from the others caves in the world. The cave [View Full Entry]

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Chiricahua National Monument The term “sky island” was new to me, but it now makes sense. Imagine an isolated mountain range surrounded by grassland. What is growing or living in the mountain is different from the surrounding “sea” of grasslands or desert. It is cutoff from other distant mountains. The Chiricahua Mountains rise to 9,763 feet. This “sky island” is home to 1,200 species of plants. Also the Chiricahua fox squirrel is found only in these mountains. The National Parks brochure lists various animals and birds that are present and special to see in these mountains, but we spent our [View Full Entry]

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Roswell I didn’t know much about Roswell, prior to our arrival. In fact the only thing that came to mind was UFO’s and an alleged spaceship crash in 1947. Of course we had to visit the UFO Museum and Research Center while we were in the area, but we also visited the Roswell Museum and Art Center. We enjoyed our visit to Roswell and the surrounding area. I was surprised that this is an area for agriculture, milk production, and pecan groves. Bottomless Lakes State Park We camped at the Bottomless Lakes State Park and learned that they really aren’t bottomless; [View Full Entry]

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Carlsbad Caverns National Park and World Heritage Site Carlsbad Caverns are located in the Chihuahuan Desert of the Guadalupe Mountains. The caves were first entered over 1,000 years ago by American Indians. The brochure states that there are drawings on the cave walls near the natural entrance, but no signs that they entered further into the dark areas. In the 1800’s the settlers discovered the natural entrance, due to the thousands of bats leaving the cave. This is still a spectacle that can be enjoyed from early spring to October. The bat exodus can last from 20 minutes to 2 ½ [View Full Entry]

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Guadalupe Mountains National Park The National Park is located in Texas, but the mountains extend into New Mexico. The mountains are surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert. The highest peak in Texas is the Guadalupe peak at 8,749 feet (2667m). McKittrick Canyon This canyon is located in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park and is considered by many to be the most beautiful spot in Texas in the fall. This hike begins in the desert but ends in a forest. We hiked as far as the Pratt cabin where we met a volunteer who was most informative. I pictured the Pratt family hiking [View Full Entry]

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