Mesa Verde National Park This was one of our favorite areas. It depicts the resiliency of those native to this land. They came to find living in the cliffs probably safer and providing a more comfortable living environment than on the “surface”. However the cliffs were abandoned after several hundred years and the inhabitants spread out through the southwest. This area is an archeologist delight as new dig sites have been found regularly and exploration continues. Let me tell you about our almost first visit to Mesa Verde. In was early December and we were on our way t [View Full Entry]

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Down day as I traveled from Moab to Cortez/Mesa Verde by way of Monument Valley. Took some good photos along the dusty valley loop. A test for the Forester - no, but rather a test for me, not wanting the dust, dirt and mud to soil my almost pristine vehicle. However, some good occurred later in the day as there was rain in Cortez to wash off most of the dirt. I will be camping the next few days, so updates will not be added until I motel or find a Starbucks. KC is not enjoying this trip. He is so [View Full Entry]

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Moab, Utah The main purpose of this trip is to dedicate a particular location or event Betty and I had during our many wondrous vacations. Most of these instances were unique to us and the drive along the Colorado River out of Moab, Utah is a prime example. A dedication was done to commemorate this single amazing event. Let me take just a minute to relive that day. The morning after spending a day at Arches National Park, we just started driving and ended up on a scenic byway along the Colorado River. It seem pretty nondescript until we got about [View Full Entry]

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The first stop is Fallon, Nevada which is not the entertainment or gaming center of Nevada. However, it is the home of Top Gun Naval Air Station. It is also the location of one of Betty's oldest and dearest friends - Judy Carlson. Judy is an artist of national repute and Betty's mentor. They started with mutual respect and admiration, but their relationship evolved into deep caring and love. Betty often talked of Judy's impact on her life and how painting and art taught her about herself. I believe they were both greater because of each. Now Fallon is not a [View Full Entry]

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This the first entry in the Betty's Fall Tribute Trip and will be entered before we leave. Now a good writer strives to have a great opening sentence or a way of capturing the readers attention. Even though “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” fits, I will not borrow from Mr.Dickens. Instead I will start with a little piece KC and I wrote while we were camping In Lassen Volcanic National Park. Now you may wonder how a dog was able to participate in the this writing, but since we have been spending so much [View Full Entry]

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As you know from reading the first two lines of this blog, our trip was on Betty’s Bucket List. Our oncologist suggested we make the trip and start Betty’s second bout of chemotherapy treatment when we returned. We completed our trip October 1, 2008 and Betty had her first treatment October 7th. Betty never had another chemotherapy treatment, as the ugly unpredictable growth of Cancer created problems that lead to 3 hospitalizations and 2 radiation treatments (10 session each) to shrink pain causing tumors. Betty died December 29,2008 at home surrounded by her family. The [View Full Entry]

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Happy to be back on the road as we could still miss the commute traffic in Dallas, but there is no way to miss the arrogant, gun toting, road-rage infected drivers (these are only the women) of the Dallas/Fort Worth crash and burn freeway system. See I can be objective We stayed in Fort Worth with Betty’s cousin Kay who was a most gracious hostess. As you know I am not one to praise others, but Kay is a retired Information Technology person from ATT after the SBC->ATT merger. So we had much to talk about in a language only we [View Full Entry]

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We finally got to Little Rock and had only lost half a day in Nashville. I am not a big city person, but found Little Rock was easy to get around and next morning on 9/23, we gathered ourselves to visit the William Jefferson Clinton Library and Museum. This was a required visit as one of Bets favorite prezs is little Willie Clinton. The building was ultra-modern and Bets remarked that it reminded her of a stainless steel sided double-wide. However I found the facility to be remarkable. The theme was a Bridge to the 21st Century and in this case [View Full Entry]

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We left Roanoke Sunday morning headed for Jackson, Tennessee between Nashville and Memphis. However, things did not turn out as planned. Maybe you heard about a gasoline shortage in several eastern cities due to Ike, Nashville was one such city (we did not hear). When we hit town it was fumes, but there was no gasoline to be found. We pulled into a Holiday Inn Express parking lot after talking with local police who confirmed there was no gasoline in the area. I checked with the motel for room availability, however they did not take DOGS. The KC factor rears its [View Full Entry]

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We had several down days at my Roanoke home with my mother - Helen (91), sister Lynn (63) and sister Leslee (almost 50) who drove down from DC on Friday. A mini family reunion with only DiAnne (65) missing. Bets has adopted my family and my mom is “mom” and she loves it. My mother - Helen, who surprises me every time I see with her energy and strength, is still very active being a homemaker for Lynn and herself. One of her favorite pastimes is bargain hunting groceries as Lynn drives from store to store burning $4 gasoline to save [View Full Entry]

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