Early morning departure from Santa Fe after a great dinner party at our friends.We nabbed two good campsites – one for their airstream and another from Travato.Ready to walk to Medano Creek and the dunes.The afternoon thunderstorm is building but we are enjoying the river and surges while we can.Interesting wind patterns.Another day of lounging on the beach.Hiked overlook trail near sunset for this view.Hiked Mosca Pass and enjoyed a picnic lunch here.An early morning start to hike the dunes. The water was incredibly cold!Very fun shadows on the dunes. Only an hour to hike to the high dune.
June 1 we flew to San Antonio, Texas. We were chauffeured by Rick, cousin of Barry Gorden (Motown Music Founder), to KerRVille where our van was waiting. We learned so much about how to operate it from Keith, for which we are very grateful. We also appreciate the small town service of Otis, Todd, Shannon and Keri. Thank you so much!We bought a Winnebago Travato 59K which is a converted RAM 3500 high top extended cargo van. This is the layout of the 21′ length – everything we need!We did not linger in Kerrville because of the intense rains forecast. We drove to Fredericksburg in the rain and spent the night there. We had a pleasant evening but it did rain all night – so we know our van is waterproof!Our first National Park with the Travato is LBJ childhood home. The Texas White house is closed due to flooding but we enjoyed our time here very much. Good movies on both LBJ and Lady Bird – seemed like a good start as they did much to preserve some of the beauty of our country.We took a ranger led tour and sat on the front porch.
We left early and drove to Ft Stockton to skirt all of the storms. We were successful!Our first purchase was this fresh water hose. Newbies trying to figure this out. We love that the Travato is fully self contained and that the solar panels recharge the “house” battery.The little kitchenette, 2 coach seats swivel with airline type trays, overhead cabinets have lots of storage, 2 twin beds that can push together and also tilt for reading/TV viewing. Sliding screen door and lots of windows – good cross breezes.After a visit to Ft Davis Historic Site, and the local library, we headed up into the hills and found this The Nature Conservancy Trail and picnic area.Seemed like a good spot for wine o’clock and then to spend the night.Guadalupe National Park with Chollas blooming.Our camp site for 2 nights. Interior of van is 6′-3″ so Henry does not hit his head.An automatic awning over the picnic table. Wine O’clock in style!We got up early and hiked Guadalupe Peak. A 3,000′ elevation gain!This formation of El Capitan from the top reminded us of Michigan lower peninsula.What lies ahead? We wander into New Mexico.The Mexican Trestle Bridge hike in Cloudcroft where we spent a night.We went to the space museum in Alamogordo. This was the moon model behind Walter Cronkite when he gave all those updates on the astronauts. Pretty interesting that it is preserved here.Capitan is home of Smokey the Bear and they have a museum to him.
From our friend’s condo, we hiked from the Red Gate down to Hideaway Park in Winter park to ride the bus back home. Still snow on the ski runs as you can see.We hiked along a creek, stopping for lunch to enjoy this view.Shadow Mountain Lookout Tower in RMNP was a beautiful destination. Notice the chipmunk in the foreground.This is classic CCC architecture.
We rented a 2 bed, 2 bath condo on Bolongo Bay – this is view from the balcony. Very nice! Thank you to the owner Sue for being on VRBO and sharing with us.Got in some pool time. It was a nice each to walk around with a restaurant and ar – you really did not have to leave this little bit of paradise.Relaxing before the big event…And here we are dressed and ready for the party at the Ritz.A very handsome coupleHere comes the bride: father and daughterUnder the gazebo on the bay –You may kiss the bride. Yeah!Our niece is married!The best men…with the cake!
Happy Mother’s Day with a rum punch to send the newlyweds on their way!A day trip to Virgin Island National Park on St John – gorgeous day!So glad this island was preserved from development!This was very pleasant way to end the day.
Family diner with lots to celebrate – so nice to have all togetherThe girls togetherThe engaged couple looking very happyGlass of wine and enjoying the view from the balcony
At the end of Star Pass, we started hiking the David Yetman trail with our friends. This also went to Bowen ruins, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch, and Lee Hidden Canyon for the return journey.And here we are adding some contrast to the saguaros. It was a really pleasant day with the temp around 60 – perfect for desert hiking. Last year we all did a hike together on the 31st so maybe this is going to be a new tradition?Aren’t they such a cute couple?A chain cholla forest because you are probably getting tired of our saguaro photos!On the trail again after lunch…Willey Coyote pausing to check out the MINI.A few days earlier we had started at the West trail head near Gates Pass. The entire trail is 12 miles so we have left a chunk in the middle un-observed by us.Saguaro National Park West adjoins this park and was once a part of it – same beautiful scenery.Nice weather warmed up to the low 60’s. Perfect for a hike!It is amazing how green the desert is in December!A good rest at the end of the David Yetman West hike.
Early December 18, we set out on the 4-Springs Trail and were surprised by the amount of snow still on the ground.But great views over Green Valley to the west. We went yesterday to the copper mine discovery center to learn about those retaining ponds and the big plateaus in the valley.Following the stream up the canyon was a nice mix of water and ice.Here is one of the springs. We hiked to three of them on a 5-mile loop trail.Beautiful clear blue skies brightened our spirits when we got glimpses like this.We went back the following week to do a steep climb to Agua Caliente trail, over to Josephine saddle for lunch and back by the Super Trail for an 8-mile loop. We ended up taking the H&P social trail from Carrie Nation and the mine there, up to the ridge and Jack Mountain. This is the peak of Mt Wrightson.This is the mine on the Carrie Nation Trail. We started the day hiking at 43 degrees and finished at 47 degrees – it did feel warmer in the sun. And was in the 50’s when we returned to the casita.Who let the bears out?
