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Michigan Visit

 

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Visitng family and friends – and a class reunion. It is very hot!
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The architects
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The new Frederick Meyer Japanese gardens with fun sculptures
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Beautiful reflections…
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Not a selfie!
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How far did we walk to see this Caulder sculpture? How many times has Mom done the walk? Ha! At least we got to relax for a nice water front lunch. Also we toured the recently renovated Gerald Ford Museum…did not see any mention of Vail.
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Some 1950 Fords – what fun colors!
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More fun reflections…
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Cherries and blueberries and sweet corn. Yum! We are eating well 😉
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High School friend took us around Crystal lake – fun to relax there and hang out!
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A wonderful 101 year old friend of the family and his daughter – how fun it was to visit and give a hug.
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Historic Sights In Illinois

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In Moline, Rock Island Army Base had an interesting Arsenal Museum and Corp of Engineers Waterway museum at the Mississippi Lock. We were lucky to see this 2-part barge and tugboat going through.

The historic bridge pivots to let the tugboat through after the two barges reconnect. We were thrilled with our timing to see this during the hour we were there.

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Further down the road we stopped at Hennepin Canal State Park to see the locks on this historic canal.
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The bridge had a 4-ton limit so we were good for crossing!
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We parked overnight along the canal with this picturesque view.
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Pullman NHS near Chicago is a new addition to the Park System but the community has been working on conserving it for many years. This factory will be the future visitor center.
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It was a factory town but constructed to entice people to be a part of the community.
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A variety of housing styles.
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They used different bricks on each home to provide individualism.
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There is awesome community spirit. Most of the homes have been restored by their owners.
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Indiana Dunes national Seashore provides a view of the distant Chicago skyline.
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The bog area adjacent to the Dunes has been preserved as well.
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St Joesph Harbor Lighthouse was our chosen spot for our evening stop.
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On the road again

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Colorado National Monument. We brought the MINI here and didn’t want any sibling rivalry. It is truly a favorite
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To have views like this! So glad it was preserved.
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The family car wash…the van also got oil change, tires rotated and balanced as well as the starter switch recall. In Grand Junction, it had a new Auto Transfer Switch installed so we can now use shore power. Nice to make sure the warranty work gets taken care of in a timely manner.
16-07-16 264 Dinner Party Tim & Kris
An evening with friends. It is difficult to make time for everything but we have tried to organize a few quality visits as all of our friends are important to us!
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After a night with my other nephew’s family in Kansas, we came across the geographical center of the contiguous states near Lebanon.
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This is the actual spot but a ranger told us it is really about 200′ from here in the corn field. Close enough for me.
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We homesteaded in Beatrice and then headed to the state capitol of Nebraska – gorgeous building
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Sterling J Morton was the author of Arbor Day and there is the beautiful Steinhart park next to his historic home in Nebraska City.
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We thought we would lunch along the Missouri River and found this replica of the Louis and Clark keel boat (the one made for the IMAX movie)
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Look Meriwether! So interesting to contemplate their journey.
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This makes our Travato look spacious – and definitely not as much work.
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Really nice to visit family along the way. Such gracious hospitality!
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Sneffels Wilderness / Uncompaghre National Forest

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Wilamot Valley has views to dream about. Wow! We strolled to this beaver pond in the early morning.
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The Travato found a great parking place! We stayed put for three nights.
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We watched photographers come and take pictures of us…well probably, unlike us, they cropped out the Travato.
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We could enjoy some river time…tho the mosquitos kindav liked this spot as well.
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One night some horses were brought in and added a beautiful touch to the valley.
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They were more interested in the grass than the view.
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The start of the hike to Blue Lake. This is a hugely popular trail and we were really glad to have walked the mile to the trailhead rather than try to park.
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A couple backpackers asked for their photo here so they reciprocated by taking this one of us.
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A panarama view. Amazing colors. It did not feel real.
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We decided to take a cue from the marmot and just sun ourselves on a rock
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Life is good!
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Especially with views like this. True Prisma colors.
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More columbines in bloom, along the banks of the crystal clear water.
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The second day we hiked to Baine Basin which is the next valley over.
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There were many river crossings but all were nicely fashioned with sturdy bridges.
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Our first view of the valley – there were so many waterfalls!
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We hung out on a rock with this view – a bit closer to the water.
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Colorful wildflowers. We loved this magenta variety of Paint Brush.
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Another evening stroll in the valley before turning in. I think we need to come back in the fall and see this valley with the aspens. It is a new favorite spot…we are collecting them.

 

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Uncompaghre National Forest

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After exploring Cedar Edge and Montrose, CO, we found a parking spot with a view of the valley for two nights.
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We enjoyed a day hike exploring the area. There were 4-wheel drive roads that were the most rugged classification – not at all suitable for the Travato – or probably any vehicle that you wanted to keep!
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Sunset on the first night.
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The second sunset was equally beautiful.
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Outside of Ridgway, CO we hiked around this beautiful sculpture at the Dennis Weaver Park.
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It has a 20-foot wing span and was commissioned as a memorial on the park land set aside that connects Ridgway with the State Park
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We are seizing the moment and soaring with our Travato.

 

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Delta and Gunnison Fork Recreation area

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Confluence of the Gunniison and Uncompahgre Rivers converge at the park in Delta – we spent the 4th relaxing here. We had fried chicken and ice cream for our picnic celebration.
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We were not the only ones spending the day in the park. This pleasant fishing pond/ lake was full of anticipation.
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We enjoyed a very peaceful sunset with a second bowl of ice cream!
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Some came prepared for the pre firework show. The firework show was really worth the wait. We especially enjoyed the reflections on the lake and the crowd’s appreciation.
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We drove the next day to the other side of the valley up the Gunnison River.
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Cool Rock hike up a dry wash in a canyon was a bit warm but a large variety of rock.- so many different cool rocks.
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We parked here for two nights – it was a bit exposed and windy but had great views.
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Great mountain views!
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Amazing sunsets and twinkling stars. We could also pull in some TV reception so enjoyed a show on the monitor. We have not played with all of the features yet so like the opportunity to figure things out.
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Dominguez Canyon Area near Grand Junction, CO

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We parked overnight on BLM land and enjoyed the panoramic views. However after this overnight storm it was quite spooky to drive down the clay/mud road. But we made it to our morning Travato appointment in Grand Junction.
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Dominguez Canyon Wilderness hike south of Grand Junction started with this crossing of the Gunnison River.
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A beautiful mix of rocks that would make any geologist ecstatic – we found it pretty interesting.
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Amazing petroglyphs.
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These tell the story of the Ute hunting buffalo.
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Lunch break for the map reader. The day was overcast and a gorgeous day to be outdoors.
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The color of the water made us dream of lattes…
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This was a very large water fall that went all the way into the valley.
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We parked overnight a ways above the trailhead and enjoyed the expansive sky views.
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Flat Top Wilderness / Routt National Forest

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We found this beautiful campsite with incredible views.
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It was a bit extreme to get the final few feet but Travato prevailed.
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Wine O’clock while enjoying the expansive views.
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Our evening sunset stroll across Gardener Park Reservoir gave a new perspective to Travato. We saw some ducks and a beaver.
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We drove to a trailhead by Stillwater Lake to hike the Devil’s Causeway. This is the view before the final assent to the Causeway.
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A fellow hiker took our picture – we had both tried to get a photo of the large marmot.
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On top of the world after crossing the Devil’s Causeway.
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And the view from the other direction. We hung out for a while enjoying a snack. When we left at 11 am, it was clear, by 11:30 the storm clouds had built up, by noon in the Van it started to sprinkle. We stayed a head of it on the 11-mile dirt road drive out. We then drove to Edwards to spend the night with my college roommate.