Vacation 2009

This is our place here at Mountaindale RV Resort southwest of Colorado Springs. Could get used to this lifestyle real easy.

Lots of places to see in the short time while we are here. So off we go.


First stop 7 Falls
Billed as the Grandest Mile of Scenery in Colorado. The history of the 7 Falls and how it became what it is today is very interesting. The tour guide had a lot more to say about the history than the web site.

What we saw was a very unique & scenic canyon. What makes it more unique is that it is privatly owned. No it's not part of the National, State, County or City park systems. The 400 plus acres has been pivatly owned since 1881.

Each of the 7 Fall has it's own name. Follow this link for the fall names.



Thank you Mr. Tour Guide for taking our picture.

Next stop The Garden of the Gods

This attraction has amazing rock formations and views. You can tour all the formations on foot or by vehicle. We chose to drive as the afternoon showers were all around us. It turned out to be the right decision.



This rock formation is appropriately named "Sleeping Giant".

More pictures of our views from the Garden of the Gods.

Next stop Pikes Peak!

If you hike, drive or take the train to the peak this is a must see destination.

Yes it was cold!

We chose the Cog Railway to get us to the peak.


It's an amazing ascent and descent with spectacular views from the rail car.

This is a view of the rail tracks near the summit.

Palacios Weekend

We have heard a lot about Palacios, TX but have never been there. With the RV in the shop for the last 2 months we were getting a bad case of cabin fever. So off to Palacios we go.

It is a small town. Not much to do except birding, fishing and enjoy the water. The town is known for having the largest shrimp fleet in the Gulf. The closest Wal-Mart is in the next town of Port Lavaca 23 miles away.

We stayed at Serendipity Bay Resort. As the picture shows it is a Marina and RV park. We had a great space (#49) right next to some boat slips. The fishing was fair right off the back of our RV which was a plus. Fishing was good at other city park piers. Only problem was at night the mosquitoes were out in full force and very hungry.

We had a wonderful weekend visiting the small shops and having fresh shrimp for dinner. We plan to go back to be a tourist and enjoy this RV park and community again.

Vacation 2008 Continued

The next portion of our vacation we moved our RV location from Williams to Flagstaff in order to spend time exploring Sedona & Flagstaff.

(Click photos for larger view)



On the first day we drove to Sedona via the scenic route Hwy. 89A. We stopped at the Oak Creek Canyon Area. A nice park with great views of the canyon.

From this view you can see the Hwy. 89A 3 times because of the grade. I'm glad we left the RV in Flagstaff, although we say a few RV's negating the switchbacks.


You can see small areas of Aspen showing their fall beauty.




As we approached Sedona we were met with the famous Red Rock formations.


The downtown portion of Sedona is where all the tourist gather for shopping in the quaint and unusual shops.


With the view of all the Red Rock formations while shopping it becomes a unique and enjoyable experience.


The view during lunch from the outside balcony made for a relaxing break.


Next it's off to see more of the Red Rock formations up close.












We enjoyed our day so much we decided to skip the exploring of Flagstaff and returned to Sedona for more Red Rock enjoyment.

Sedona is definitely on the list of places to come back and enjoy.

Vacation 2008 Grand Canyon

Our first experience in seeing the Grand Canyon finally arrived.

This was our first view of the canyon when we arrived. Its very hard to describe the feeling and emotion we had as we walked up to the rim edge and saw this scene.

I don't know how long we stood here to take in this view. I know it wasn't long enough as there was always something new or changing every moment. This first view will always be remembered.

The following pictures are just a few of the many photos we took. I wish my photography skills were such as to relay how much beauty the canyon has to offer. The haze in the background was from a controlled burn in the nearby mountains.

It's hard to imagine how massive the canyon really is. The Grand Canyon Park is over 1.2 million acres and took millions of years to create.

Not only is it huge it's also humbling.

Can you find the Colorado river?

The little black dots on the trail is the Mule tour that travels down to the Colorado River. The photo was taken around 1:30pm. The mules and riders are about half way back to the rim.

Wouldn't it be nice to have the view this crow has?

I just like this photo.

The Watchtower provided some spectacular views of this part of the Canyon.

Some paintings on the inside wall of the Watchtower.

Ceiling paintings in the Watchtower.

View from top of the Watchtower. The Painted Desert is in the extreme upper right corner.

Just doesn't get any better.

The sun is setting and time to say good-bye. After seeing the magnificent beauty of the Grand Canyon we hope to come back and enjoy more of it.

Vacation 2008 - The Start

The anticipation and excitement is here. We started our trip from Gainesville, TX after a gathering with Dianna's family.

The first day of traveling turned out to be the worst day weather wise for our whole trip.

We got into the remnants of hurricane Norbert around Wichita Falls, TX. That was fine as it was a nice tail wind that pushed the RV and truck until we reached Amarillo, TX. Then it became a nasty side wind. We sure were glad to get to the Santa Rosa Campground for a good night of rest.

Next morning we are headed west with Williams, AZ as our destination. It turned into a beautiful day. I had forgotten how pretty the drive through New Mexico is. I'm ready to move back to New Mexico.

We arrived in Williams late afternoon. Upon checking in at the Circle Pines KOA we were told to not hook up the water as it was to be below freezing that night. I asked how cold was it going to get. The response was 24 degrees. Wow! That's cold for a central Texas boy!


This KOA is in the mountains with tall pine trees all around. All night we heard the wind whistling through the pine needles and the needles falling on the RV. We were truly in the mountains.


.The next day we are headed for Bullhead City, AZ to see my sister Michele. Another change happens when we arrive Bullhead City. It is in the desert. Temps are back into the 80's. Just like being at home except it is a dry heat. So it's not as hot?

One of the things we did while in Bullhead City was to go to Oatman, AZ. A gold mining ghost town.

Oatman's finest shopping...

Besides the donkeys that roam the street we have others.

Interesting formations in the desert.

We enjoyed our stay in Bullhead City visiting with Michele and hope to see her again soon.