Quartzite 2013

Circle of the Montanas

Overview of Quartzite



Rollie at ARC classes



    

 

 

 

 

 

This has been a busy two weeks for us here in the desert.  As you can see, RV'ers come from all over the US and Canada to camp in the desert and enjoy the camaraderie of others. We met some old friends, and made some new ones.  We went to some American Red Cross classes, and enjoyed visiting with some new DOVES, Disaster Operation Volunteer Escapees.





     Back at the Circle of the Montanas, we saw great sunrises, and sunsets; had some nice campfires, and lots of good food.  And of course we shopped for great bargains at the flea markets, and in the Main Tent. 

     We went to the Desert Bar in Parker, AZ, just because it was on our bucket list. They had great food and beautiful vistas.

Some of us at the Desert Bar

 

 

 

Overview of the Desert Bar

 

     Here are a few pictures of our time here.  Then off we go for more adventures today, heading west to Joshua Tree National Park.  See you down the road.



On the Road Again

On the Road to Deming, NM

The BIG SCOOP

SNOW AT BALMORRHEA

 WE started out the first day with a rainy wet day.  The next day we rode behind a a huge trailer transporting this bucket to west Texas.   So our friends said that El Paso was due to get 6 inches of snow, so we altered our route, and headed up to I-10 figuring the road would be better if the weather turned bad.  Well, half hour heading up 285 to Fort Stockton it started snowing.  We luckily got to Balmorrhea, and were the able to get the last spot at Saddleback RV park.  As you can see, I think we were in the center of the snow.  We ended up staying an extra da.
TODAY we left with the sun shining, thinking it would warm up, but it did not happen.  Below is a picture of the ice storm in New Mexico.  We didn't get any rain or snow, but the temerature stayed around 30 degrees.  We are nestled in Dreamcatchers RV Park for a few days, so Rollie can sort out some of his projects.   That is all for now...

ICE STORM ALONG HIGHWAY

New York City With the American Red Cross

Christmas Tree Radio City Musical Hall
 

     Rollie and I have been in NYC with the American Red Cross.  We normally work seven days a week, 12 hours a day.  This day is a slow day and we actually have an afternoon off.  The flue and cold season has arrived here.  Rollie has a slight sniffle, but I so far have been lucky.  Rollie works in DST, which is communications:  phones, computers, etc, and really likes it.  I have been in staff wellness, taking care of the volunteers, so they can take care of the clients. 
      We walk the streets to and from headquarters on 49th and 10th Ave, for those of you who know a little bit about NYC.  We are starting to walk like these guys too.  No one is heavy here, and it is great to walk this city.  We have eaten in the deli’s because that seems more economical.  We have tried their reubens, pastrami, and of course the cheese cake, but it doesn’t top my neighbor Patty’s who makes a yummy one ever so often.

The Crane that came loose
 

We have had one day off, and took the city tour by boat.  Here are a few of the pictures.  We will be off tomorrow and hope to go to ground zero, and see a few more things that are in walking distance. 

USS Enterprise

Overall this has been a great experience.  We will be glad to get out of the city, and look for those wide open skies of Texas soon.

The Statue of Liberty

The Twin Towers

St. Ignace, MI

We arrived in St Ignace on Thursday, after driving across the UP as the locals say.  It was a nice drive with lots of trees, and lakes.  Many times we could see Lake Michigan, a very nice scenic drive.  We are staying at the Kewadin Casino, and have gone into town.  The visitor center this side of the Mackinaw bridge tells the story of the building of this 5 mile bridge.  We will head over it today and go to Bear Lake along Lake Michigan.

US Locks

St. Ignace is on Lake Huron though just north of the Mackinac Bridge, a five mile suspension bridge.  There is an island, only accessible by ferry here, the Mackinaw Island.  We did not go because of the rain. 

 Yesterday we rode to Sault St. Marie and toured the SOO Locks.  We went west in the US locks, and returned in the Canadian lock, a much smaller lock used for tourist and sightseeing boats. These locks connect Lake Huron and Lake Superior, and is a huge shipping lane along the St. Mary.  More than 10,000 tons of cargo traverse these locks every years.  On the Canadian side, there is a huge steel plant.  Wonder where are industry has gone, look no farther.  We started out having great weather, but by the time we arrived back, it was cold and windy, almost looked like snow clouds.  Time to move south!

On to Goshen!!!!

Jamestown ND, Labor Day Weekend

     This last weekend we spent roaming around this city at Frontier Fort RV Park.  Here is the 60 ton monument of the largest buffalo made.  Down the street were many old buildings including a jail, a bar, and Louis L’Amour writing desk and library.  He is a well known artist that wrote about the courageous spirit of men and women in all regions of the US.  He died in 1988, but his books live on.

     Within walking distance is the Fort itself, and the National Buffalo Museum.  We could see a herd of buffalo with the Albino Buffalo among them.  It is considered sacred among the Lakota Indians. There is a prophecy that this buffalo will come and unite all races in peace. 

After the fort, off we went to Fort Seward, where of course Rollie found a cannon..a howitzer this time. There were many parks to visit next to the James river and reservoir. 

     This was a nice place to visit.  Also the restaurant at the Fort had great ribs and prime rib to top off our stayIn Jamestown the oldest catholic. church in North Dakota is here:  The Basilica of St. James.        So now it is off to Minnesota for the night and then on to Michigan.  We are taking the scenic drive along Rte 2 over to the Mackinaw Bridge.

Sturgis, SD and the Black Hills

     This has been a great area to spend some time. There is so much to see and do that you must pick and choose what is important to you.  We spent  week here last year, and really didn’t see anything we saw last year.  It is a great vacation area.  We moved over to Sturgis once the rally finished to say hi to our friends that manage the park.  We also met up with one of our travelling couples, Mike and Shirley.  It has been fun catching up since we haven’t seen them since Quartzite.

With our geocaching we found this cemetery with Civil War graves.  Very well taken care of and interesting.  Of course we were geocaching…

     Also along the way we discovered we were close to the geographical center of the United States.  With the addition of Hawaii, and Alaska,  the center moved from Lawrence Kansas to Belle Fourche, SD.  Never new this existed.  Guess who is in the middle!!

     This is just one of the fun things to do here. 

Another day we went to Lead, SD where there is a gold mine one can get tours.  This day though they were have a school fair and we were unable to get close enough to get tour tickets. but they have a great park here, where there is a huge display of mining equipment.  This mine is one of the deepest mines in the US.  It was closed in 2002, but the park tour was pretty nice.  And a nice hike in the morning.
     Once the rally is finished, Sturgis starts closing up.  The Easy Rider is one of the best restaurants in the city.  Here we are just outside.
Tomorrow we start heading to Goshen for the rally.  We will stop back at Lake Sakakawea over Labor Day and then head through Minnesota, and Michigan.  Till the next time.

Wind Cave National Park Caverns

On Friday we headed over to Hill city, SD to the Wind Cave NP.  It includes the third largest underground Caverns in the world, and is noted for its boxwork.  Jewel NM is not too far away and is the 2nd largest.
This Cavern has very little moisture, and a lot of calcite which forms this boxwork on its walls and ceilings.   One can also see popcorn, and frostwork This outside opening is the original that was found in 1890 by Alvin McDonald, when he was not quite 18 years old as he followed the wind into these caverns with only a candle and a role of string.  The cave is named because of the wind that blows from this hole to the point it will blow your hat off, and at other times it will suck it in due to the changes in barometric pressure.  There are many tunnels yet to be explored.  It is like a piece of swiss cheese if you can imagine!
On the surface, the park includes over 28,000 acres of prairie land, where the buffalo have been preserved, and roam free, as well as other kind of animals.
On the way home, there was a thunderstorm with hail.  The temperature dropped 30 degrees in a matter of minutes. But a beautiful rainbow appeared, and it was double.  Might be hard to see on the picture, but I had never seen this….a nice ending to an interesting day.