Hi, everyone,

In case anyone is still checking the blog, thought I'd better get back, apologize for the protracted absence, and explain what in the world has happened to us. So, first, please accept my apology for not updating you on our situation. I was a little preoccupied for about a month, though. Then, I just kept forgetting to sit down and write.

As you might remember from my last post, on our last day at Glen Canyon, we were going to take a float trip down the Colorado. Well, we did, and it was a great trip with beautiful scenery and I would highly recommend it if you're in the area. Just don't do what I did and blow out your knee while stepping off the boat. Yes, I tore my right knee up good!

I was seen in Page at the urgent care clinic and x-rayed that evening (Friday). No broken bones, but I was in quite a bit of pain and unable to bear weight on that leg. I was placed in an immobilizer and put on crutches to wait until Tuesday for an MRI. The MRI revealed significant damage to my ACL and both meniscuses (menisci?), along with fluid, bleeding, etc. When we received this diagnosis and found out that recovery from ACL repair could take up to six months, we decided the prudent thing to do would be to come home. So we did.

I was fortunate to get an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in Longview that has treated several family members. By the time I saw him, it had been two weeks since my injury. He doesn't like to make a decision on surgery until four weeks post injury, to allow for swelling to diminish and to see what function may return. So I was then scheduled for a follow-up in two more weeks.

These last two weeks have been almost miraculous in the amount of progress that I have made. I am not healed, by any stretch of the imagination, but I am pretty much pain free and able to walk without braces or crutches. The doctor was also impressed and thinks there might be an outside chance that I can get by without an ACL reconstruction. He prescribed a month of physical therapy, in hopes that my upper leg muscles can be strengthened enough to compensate for the loss of ACL support.

So, that's where I am now. I have a surgery date set for July 5th. If the PT works, they will just clean up the meniscal tears with an arthroscope, which will lead to a much shorter recovery period. But if it doesn't, I willl have ACL reconstruction. And be out of commission for quite a while.

We have been staying in our RV at the same park we stayed at over Christmas, which is a great place. We both were getting the feeling we should be looking for a house, and when we each told the other, we realized that was what we needed to do at this point. We're not ready to come off the road yet, but it will be nice to have a "real" home to recover in, and also to come back to over the holidays. We were fortunate to find a small house in the same neighborhood as Tommy Jack's parents. It is move-in ready and even comes with all the appliances--perfect for us. We should be closing on it by the end of the week.

So now, at long last, you're up to date on our lives. If you haven't, be sure to check the photo gallery for all the beautiful shots TJ got at Glen Canyon. And I promise to let you know what happens with us. We are hoping to get to take a short trip in the fall, after I'm all healed up. Everyone take care and let us hear from you, if you haven't already. Thanks for supporting us during our travels!

Love,
Tommy Jack & Lisa

Hi, everyone,

Only one more day left for us to be at Lake Powell and Glen Canyon NRA, so I thought I’d better try to get some thoughts down on paper. First thought: beauty! I’ve been using that word a lot lately, and it still continues to apply here. I was thinking Lake Powell would look just like Lake Mead, since they are both large desert impoundments in canyons. Wrong. They are both deep, the most amazing shade of blue, and surrounded by desert and canyons, but Lake Powell is very different. The side canyons here tower overhead and come in a myriad of colors. I would imagine that you could explore this lake by boat for many, many years before you truly covered every nook and cranny.

For my history tidbit: Lake Powell was formed when Glen Canyon Dam was placed in, of course, Glen Canyon in 1963. The lake extends over 140 miles behind the dam, giving it more shoreline than the entire western coast of the United States. The lake and its surrounding land is managed by the National Park Service as Glen Canyon NRA, with adjacent lands under control of the BLM. There is a lot of room to play here!

And you can find just about anything you might want to do, also. There are several visitor centers (with dinosaur bones!), dam tours (only $5—lots cheaper than Hoover), several boat trips (bring lots of $$), boat rentals (again, $$), skiing, fishing, swimming, camping, hiking. There is also a hotel right on the lake, in case you’re not a camper. Houseboating, something I’ve always wanted to do, is huge here, and rentals are available at the marina. On the adjacent Navajo land, there are tours of several slot canyons, most notably Antelope Canyon. On BLM land, you can hike, bike, or four-wheel to your heart’s content. There are also float trips on the river below the dam, which is flat water. Lees Ferry, 14 miles below the dam and also a part of the NRA, is the starting point for all river trips that go into and through the Grand Canyon (which technically begins at Lees Ferry). Like I said, lots to choose from.

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Hi, everyone,

We have been in Kanab, Utah, for the past couple of days. We were planning to visit the north rim of the Grand Canyon from here, but found out that they don’t open the road until the middle of May. Part of the road in goes up to 9,000 feet, so they still have snow, and the potential for more, for a few more weeks. But we took advantage of our beautiful surroundings and did a quick drive-through visit of a few places in the area.

If you’re ever planning a visit to any attractions in this area, Kanab is a great place to base out of. It’s a small, but very busy town, with plenty of motel rooms and a couple of RV parks for lodging. There are ample stores of all types to supply pretty much anything you could need. And it’s an easy drive to many southern Utah and northern Arizona attractions.

Our first visit of the day was to Pipe Spring National Monument, which is between Kanab and St. George, Utah. Pipe Spring was not a place that I was familiar with, but when I read about it, I was intrigued. It turned out to be one of those places that I’m so glad we didn’t miss. What Pipe Spring NM does is take one element of its high desert location—water, and interpret all the different peoples that used it. Of course, that story begins with Native Americans, Paiutes to be specific. Next came the explorers and missionaries, both Spanish and Mormon. And finally, the Mormon Pioneers.

Pipe Spring NM is completely surrounded by the Kaibab Paiute reservation, so the federal government teamed up with the Paiutes to construct a state of the art visitor center/museum that tells the story of the Kaibab Paiutes, as well as that of the monument. As an extra added bonus, we were fortunate to get to spend quite a bit of one-on-one time with a park ranger that is also a member of the Kaibab Paiute tribe. After touring the museum and seeing the film, in which the ranger had a part, we found him on the porch twining yucca fibers into cordage. We were able to ask him a number of questions on a host of topics, some of which had been on our minds for quite a while. And since it was only the three of us talking, he gave us his unvarnished opinion on several topics. Quite an interesting exchange!

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Hi, everyone,

One last entry from Lake Mead. Yesterday, we went back to Hoover Dam for a few minutes to snap a few early morning shots. On the way out, we stopped at the new O’Callaghan-Tillman Bridge. If you admire very large things, or the construction of very large things, this is not to be missed. Not to mention the great views of the dam it affords. There is free parking on the road leading into Hoover Dam, open from dawn to dusk, and a completely ADA accessible entry to the pedestrian walkway of the bridge. In the parking lot and all along the path up to the bridge, as well as on the bridge itself, are interpretive panels describing the history of the area and the construction project itself. It’s a great way to kill 30 minutes, and a wonderful place to take photos from.

One other thing about Hoover Dam that I learned yesterday. I know I told you about the parking garage, and I think I told you that you could drive across the top of the dam. We didn’t do that on our first visit, but I did it yesterday, so I learned what is on the other side. First, another $7 parking lot. But if you continue on up the hill, there are free parking lots and some more good views of the dam, spillways, and the lake. Completely different angles for photos from up there. Also, you get a good look back at the visitor center complex, which is kind of cool. You cannot exit from that side, however. The road dead-ends, so you must turn around, recross the dam, and exit the way you entered.

The other thing I wanted to tell you is NOT to miss what is below the dam. We almost did, and I’m so glad that we did not. The water below the dam is called Lake Mojave, because it is impounded by yet another dam. However, since Black Canyon is small (as canyons go) it looks like a river instead of a lake, until you get down much closer to the second dam.

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Hi, again,

We have visited two very beautiful natural areas, one on either side of Las Vegas. Valley of Fire State Park, the first state park in Nevada, is northeast of the city and preserves a large area of red sandstone formations. It is a very nice state park featuring a visitor center, two campgrounds, numerous hiking trails and about 10 miles of roads for touring. The sandstone formations are just amazing! The large majority of the mountains in the park are dark ochre in color, but interspersed around them are layers in a rainbow of colors. Between the uplifting from the numerous fault lines in the area and the erosion from wind and water, Valley of Fire is a visual feast.

The area has been used by Native Americans since 350 BC, and some of them have left petroglyphs on the formations. A notable glyph features the atlatl, a prehistoric tool used to throw a spear. We saw this tool demonstrated when we went on a petroglyph walk while staying at Lake Amistad. It was an interesting demonstration, and this is a very unusual petroglyph.

An interesting sidenote to this trip: our visit was during a sandstorm with 60 mph wind gusts! Talk about an experience. By the time we got home, I had more sand on me than if I had been to the beach. It made for a very odd looking sky back home at the lake, too.

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Hi, everyone,

We are now in Nevada, just barely. We are staying on the Nevada side of Lake Mead, about one mile north of Hoover Dam. It is so beautiful here! I had seen pictures of the lake and, of course, the dam. But I had no preconceived notion of what the terrain would look like here, and it came as a big surprise. There are jagged mountains of volcanic origin surrounded by sandstone hills in a rainbow of colors. Lake Mead has covered so much of the terrain, but just below Hoover Dam lies Black Canyon. Here, the water from the lake resumes its Colorado River path through the dark volcanic rocks. And around all of this, the desert is in bloom. We are sitting up on the side of the lake just trying to take it all in. Breathtaking!

And big. I really can’t figure out in my head how to describe to you the scope of everything we’ve seen since we’ve arrived here. Everything is huge, expansive, encompassing. From where our campground sits, to the far shore of Lake Mead is five miles. Hoover Dam is so massive that the first time I peeked over the side, I got a touch of vertigo. Looking over the opposite side, the lake is 580 feet deep. But it is all so deceptive to the eye. I guess it’s because everything is scaled the same.

Our first excursion was to tour Hoover Dam. If you’ve never been here, like me, then add it to your “must” list. If you’ve been here before, it’s changed. First, let me throw some facts at you. Then, I’ll describe our tour. The dam project was started in 1931 and completed in 1935, two years ahead of schedule. The dam is 726.4 feet high from bedrock to the roadway on top (equal to a 72 story building). More than 885,000 metric tons of concrete were used in its construction, enough to build a highway from San Francisco to New York City. All of this allows Lake Mead to hold the amount of water equal to its watershed’s average rainfall for two years (25,876,000 acre-feet of water—an amount that would cover the entire state of Pennsylvania one foot deep!)

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Hi, everyone,

Today is our last day at the Grand Canyon and about the best I can say is that I’m alive. I decided that since I had only seen one part of the park, and only from the car, that I needed to bite the bullet and get out for a day. We had plans to hike down below the rim on a trail, but I vetoed that (Tommy Jack did it by himself) and opted for a hike along the rim trail west from the village. We ended up hiking four miles, then doing the remainder on the shuttle bus, and it was a great day. But I’m still paying for it!

I’ve been trying to decide what to blog about, since I really haven’t done much and there are not adequate words to describe the beauty of the scenery. Since I came up here not really knowing what to expect, I think I’ll just kind of give you an overview of the park and what is available. That way, if you’re thinking about coming here (which I highly recommend—even with the cedars), you’ll know what to expect.

First of all, there are two separate national parks at the Grand Canyon: North Rim and South Rim. We are at the South Rim, which is the larger and more developed of the two. It is also much easier to access than the North Rim. If you’re not an outdoors-type of person and are mostly interested in just “seeing” the canyon, you could easily accomplish that in a day. Or two, at the most. You could do it on a long day trip from Flagstaff, or drive up and stay a night. There are accommodations in the park ranging from budget to luxury hotel, along with camping (either dry or with hook-ups). Whatever you decide, you need to make advanced reservations, as things stay pretty booked up most of the year. There is also a small town, Tusayan, about five miles outside the park, that has hotels and campgrounds.

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Greetings from the Grand Canyon!

I had my first look at the big hole in the ground a couple of days ago, and was wowed! Unfortunately, it has been all downhill from there. I am experiencing the worst case of cedar fever I’ve had since we left San Antonio. We have been in constant contact with cedar, since it is ubiquitous in the desert. But the bloom must be on here big time, because I’m suffering something awful! So please excuse this post if it doesn’t make perfect sense. I’m quite muddy-headed right now, but I want to try to catch up while I have some down time.

I need to back track to Flagstaff and tell you about the last part of our stay there. On Sunday afternoon, we took a break from NASCAR and drove up to the Snowbowl. Located on the San Francisco Peaks, the Snowbowl is Flagstaff’s downhill skiing area and one of the country’s oldest skiing venues, having opened in 1938. With a base elevation of 9,200 feet and a summit of 11,500 feet, there was still plenty of snow left on its 32 runs. However, the Nordic Center and snowplay area, located a few miles down the road and at a lower elevation, were already closed for the year. We had a beautiful drive through the national forest to get to that part of the mountain, and saw a lot of skiers and snowboarders having fun.

Our final excursion while in Flagstaff was to Walnut Canyon National Monument. The monument lies just outside the city limits on the eastern side of town, but feels totally isolated from civilization. It protects and interprets cliff dwellings and other ruins located in and around a 20 mile-long, 400 foot-deep canyon carved by the now-dry Walnut Creek. Like the other pueblo sites we have visited around Flagstaff, this one was also populated by the Sinagua people for about 100 years. They were also dry-land farmers, planting crops on the land at the top of the canyon. Ruins of pit houses and pueblos can be seen on the rim trail.

But to get to the heart of the matter, you must descend 240 steps on a paved path down into the canyon. Once there, an almost mile-long trail leads you past 25 cliff dwelling rooms, with many more visible across the canyon. Of course, once you’re done with the trail, you must ascend the 240 steps. There are benches placed along the way to allow for rest breaks. On the day of our visit, one poor lady had some difficulty with the ascent and I ended up assisting the park ranger with her care until EMS arrived. Fortunately, she was looking much better by the time they arrived and I left. Just goes to show, hydration, along with electrolyte replacement is of utmost importance in this environment.

Think I’ll take a break and talk a little about the Grand Canyon later. Hope all is well with all of you. We love & miss you.

Lisa

Hi, everyone,

THE PHOTO GALLERY IS UPDATED!! We finally have good internet and everything is up to date. We drove up to Flagstaff on Thursday to find lingering traces of snow on the ground, and a pretty good amount still on the mountains. It has been partly cloudy, cold (20’s to 40’s) and very windy, making being outside rather unpleasant. And, what a shame that is, because the entire area is beautiful and the KOA we are staying at is at the foot of a mountain adjacent to forest service land. I could spend every waking minute outside, watching the Steller’s Jays and Abert’s squirrels that inhabit the campground and trying to hike the trail just outside our back door. Still not used to this elevation!

We spent yesterday dealing with phone problems, ending up with yet another new phone. We still have the same numbers, though. So today was our first excursion. And, what an excursion it was. We visited the Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments, just north of Flagstaff. The two are adjacent and are connected by a tour road, so they are easily doable at the same time.

The San Francisco Volcanic Field covers about 1,800 acres north of Flagstaff. During its six million year history, it has produced about 600 volcanoes. The most recent to erupt was Sunset Crater Volcano, in 1064. The national monument protects and interprets the cinder cone of the namesake volcano and the large lava flow adjacent to it. Two more lava flows and numerous volcanic peaks are in the contiguous Coconino National Forest. There is a one mile walking trail, partly paved, over and around the lava field. Due to severe erosion, hiking is no longer allowed on the volcano. However, if you want to see the crater at the top of the cone, there is a five mile long trail up an adjacent (and taller) mountain that you can hike for a bird’s eye view.

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Hi, everyone,

After our rainy day, we awoke Tuesday to bright blue skies, cool temps, and snow on the surrounding mountains. We spent the day touring two Native American sites and visiting a former copper boomtown.

Montezuma Castle is a five story, 20 room dwelling built by the Sinagua farmers in the 1100’s. It sits in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley floor and overlooks a large sycamore grove at the edge of Beaver Creek. Nearby, at the base of the cliff, was what is known as “Castle A”, a six story, 45 room apartment-like building. If you are like me, you have been wondering why these two area attractions were named after Montezuma. Simple answer—a mistake. Early settlers marveled at the magnificent cliff structure and assumed that it was Aztec in origin, perhaps built by some refugees to honor their king. The misnomer stuck, and the National Park Service decided to keep the name when they assumed control of the site.

Unlike some other cliff dwellings that we have visited, visitors are not permitted entry into the castle. A self-guided tour takes you along a paved trail from the visitor center, past both sets of ruins, and down to the river. Local flora and fauna are interpreted along the way, along with the Sinagua culture. Back in the visitor center, a small museum displays some very impressive artifacts from the Sinagua including pottery, basketry, and even finely woven cloth. The creek side setting of the castle is beautiful and it was an active spring morning. We saw several varieties of birds, including a nesting red tailed hawk. We also saw, a first for both of us, a large and active honeycomb. It was located in a small cave in the cliff wall just down from the castle.

Our next stop was Tuzigoot National Monument, which is located between the towns of Cottonwood and Clarkdale. Tuzigoot preserves and interprets the remains of a large pueblo, also built by the Sinagua. It was constructed atop a large ridge that rises 120 feet above the Verde Valley floor, and not far from the Verde River. Tuzigoot (Apache for “crooked water”) Pueblo was two stories high in places, with 77 ground floor rooms. There were few exterior doors; entry was by way of ladders through openings in the roofs. Archaeologists estimate that up to 250 people lived here at the pueblo’s height of population, farming the large expanse of bottom land between the pueblo and the river.

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