19 September – LA – Albuquerque

Back to the airport and this time navigating the domestic terminal for an American Eagle flight. LAX is being upgraded so we had to be bussed to a terminal over the other side of the precinct. It is a very efficient system, with line markings and intersections taking us weaving in and out of the incoming and outgoing flights. Everyone obviously follows the rules (or the accidents would be catastrophic) but it was very strange getting to an intersection and having a 737 stop and give way to our bus! Equally as strange to have a plane taxi-ing alongside us and keeping pace with the bus until the pilot gunned it for take-off.

Again, another uneventful flight (just the way we like them!) into Albuquerque. It was a Canadair 50 seat plane and flew at quite a low altitude so we got to look out of the window at the scenery. The desert is quite pretty from the air, with different coloured sands – reds, pinks, yellows and blacks. Albuquerque airport is nice and tidy – new and well looked after. We caught a taxi to the RV storage place to find the van. Amazingly, despite not being driven in months, the engine turned over on the first try. 

We headed for the nearest Walmart for groceries, then onto American RV park which will be our base here for a couple of days. We collected brochures for all the local attractions and have decided what to do tomorrow. The RV park is very pleasant, with a pool. The owners are great and have made us feel very welcome.

The weather is lovely, nice and warm, but not crazy hot like Vegas can be.

We are about to do dinner and an early night!

To see our location, click the link below.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.05879,-106.79692&ll=35.05879,-106.79692&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

2015 Trip - 18 September – Hobart - LA

We opted for a later flight this trip, leaving Hobart at lunchtime and leaving Melbourne at 5pm. We had a very uneventful flight and we luuurve Premium Economy. Not as much as we love Business Class, but more affordable. J

Into LA at around 2pm and after the lengthy process of US Immigration and Customs, we caught a shuttle bus to the Marriott at LAX. We had a much welcomed hot shower and a lovely dinner in the hotel steakhouse restaurant before sitting on our balcony and relaxing overlooking the pool. Too tired, but given the timezone changes it was difficult to sleep, until the alarm startled us out of a sound sleep at 5.45am.

13 May - Denver

We originally planned to wash the RV in the morning then go into Denver to do some sightseeing. We had a few repairs to make to the ole girl so we organised a mobile repair man to come in the morning. He was running VERY late. After several phone calls, he finally showed up at 2.30. Replacing the window trims on the door took a lot longer than anticipated, but servicing the generator was quick. Sadly that meant we weren't able to go into Denver and also didn't get the visit in to the wash bay. So no photos and nothing exciting to report. We did laundry and we have just finished packing (mostly) ready to pack up and store the van tomorrow, then to Denver airport for the flight to LA. We have booked a hotel on Rodeo Drive for tomorrow night, then a lazy day in LA and a late flight out. Its been a great holiday, but we are looking forward to seeing the kids and the fur / feather kids and sleeping in our own comfy bed again.

12 May – Colorado Springs – Denver

The snow had stopped bucketing down and was now a light snow shower. Wanting to find something to do that was preferably inside, or at least undercover we went to nearby Manitou Cliff Dwellings. The cliff dwellings were built by the Anasazi people (aka Ancestral Pueblans) between 1000AD and 1300AD. 

 Originally, the Anasazi farmed on the plains, but around 1100AD, they started building elaborate stone dwellings under cliff overhangs. It is possible that there was unrest and conflict with other tribes that forced them into fortified cities.

The dwellings are up to 4stories high and multiple families lived in apartments in each building. The dwellings are very well preserved, having been relatively inaccessible.

They were opened to the public in 1907. The self guided tour was very comprehensive and allowed us to enter the buildings and walk around them.

The site also included a replica dwelling from the plains (before they moved under the cliffs)

 and a pueblo style building dating from 1898 that was inhabited by the local Native Americans until 1984 and is now a museum.

After the cliff dwellings we decide to visit nearby historic Manitou Springs. There was a historic house we wanted to see, but it was closed on Mondays.

We parked up (2 lots of parking meters because we took two spots) and had a potter around the town instead, and lunch at a local pub. On the way back to the RV we met a lady with an African Grey parrot called Missy. If you haven’t seen an African Grey before, they are about galah sized and grey. Missy took a bit of a shine to Steve and stepped up onto his arm and didn’t want to get off. The lady had to get out a wooden perch to get her to step off. Sweet little bird. Getting back to the RV we found a parking ticket for “parking an oversized vehicle in the street”. Luckily it was only a warning and not charged!

We then hit the road to Denver again, and the snow started to bucket down again! More unpleasant highway driving. Settled in and getting organised to get some repairs on the RV tomorrow, wash it and get it ready for storage. 

11 May – Denver - Colorado Springs

Woke up to snow. We googled the weather and found there was another “winter weather event” in progress in the Denver area. We had planned to go to Colorado Springs, where there is a lot to do, and given we were not overly stoked with the RV Park we were in, we decided to head out. Driving on the interstate highway was interesting. Although the road was clear, there was blowing snow meaning that we couldn’t see further than about 2 car lengths ahead. 

As we headed to Colorado Springs the snow got heavier until there was a good coating of slush on the road. We were very pleased to get into Colorado Springs after nearly 2 hours. We found a good RV Park, with good services and pulled in. Although it was only lunchtime, there was no point trying to see any of the local attractions. We had planned a cog railway trip to the top of Pike’s Peak (14000ft), and a horse ride through the Garden of the Gods, but both those activities were off the agenda. As the afternoon went on the snow got heavier and we were glad to be indoors with the furnace running. We ducked out a couple of times to get some pics and damn it was cold!

10 May – Hot Springs – Denver

On the road again for a long drive across Nebraska to Colorado. We headed south from Hot Springs. The rolling plains alternated between light forest, green farmlands and the yellower prairie grasslands. 

We stopped at “Carhenge” for lunch. It defies description really, it’s a mix of modern art and a junkyard. Certainly different! We walked around the “exhibits” to have a leg stretch.

All the way across Nebraska and not a Starbucks to be seen. We would have settled for just about any coffee, but seems Nebraska doesn’t do coffee. Sad.

Something Nebraska and this part of Colorado does do is cattle feedlots. Big yards where they fatten the cattle up and clearly don’t clean up after them. Driving past on the highway was like inhaling a giant ammonia cloud even with vents and windows closed. Eewww. It hangs around for a few kms after you go past too.

Lots of trains in this part of the world, mainly carrying coal. We counted 115 trucks on one train, with 2 engines at each end.

Miles of highway later we arrived on the outskirts of Denver. We found an RV park, but got the trifecta – the highway, the railway and the airport! 

9 May – Rapid City / Black Hills – Hot Springs

We woke up to much nicer weather! Sun out and snow melting. We headed out in the morning to Rapid City for a look around (and a Starbucks), then headed to Keystone to see the Big Thunder Gold Mine. Donning our hard hats and wearing “sensible shoes and jackets” we headed into the side of the hill… 

The mine was established in 1882 by two German immigrants trying to intercept the well-known Lucky Boy gold vein. They mined by hand using hammers and hand turned drill bits, but by the close of the mine were mere than 200 meters into the hillside. By 1907 they intercepted the Lucky Boy vein, only to find it had narrowed out to only a few inches thick and was not profitable. They only mined about $50 of gold from the vein before they exhausted it. The owners stopped mining in disappointment, however in 1909 the Columbia mine opened adjacent to Big Thunder and was averaging up to 10 ounces of gold per ton. The owners started mining again in the hope of intercepting the Columbia vein. In 1913, they began seeing signs of the gold bearing vein. The miners had started mining in their mid-30’s and were now nearly 70 years old. On reaching the vein, they hollowed out a room 20 feet wide, 35 feet high and 60 feet long. Sadly, the ore they dug from the room amounted to around $150 in gold (about $3000 in today’s money). The mines owners hung onto the claim until they both died leaving no heirs, never giving up hope of striking it rich! Very interesting tour!

Leaving Keystone, we drove south to Hot Springs to visit the Mammoth Site. Around 26000 years ago a sinkhole formed at the site due to a collapsing cave. A spring formed at the bottom of the sink hole and attracted animals to drink. The larger animals often found themselves unable to climb out due to the slippery sides of the hole and eventually died from drowning and the bodies sank to the bottom. Over the course of the next 350 to 700 years, the hole filled with sediments and mammoth remains. The remains in the site are not technically fossils, since they were not mineralized but preserved by the clay and coarse sand that accumulated within the sinkhole. As of 2012, at least 60 individual mammoths had been identified. The majority of the mammoth remains have been identified as those of Columbian Mammoths, although the remains of three Woolly mammoths have been found as well. 

In 1974, during excavation for a subdivision, a mammoth tusk was unearthed by the excavator. Recognising this as an important discovery, the site was preserved and excavated over time. The excavations continue today. This unique thing about this site is the bones are preserved in situ, rather than being removed. The dig to date is 22 feet deep and drilling has estimate there are another 45 feet of bone filled sediments still below.

Done for the day, we found a nearby RV park and settled in.