Under the Arch /  by Dave Hileman

We were not off early today but still got to arches national Park before it was too crowded. We drove to the back, first, and started from there with a couple of brief stops on the way. We parked where there is never a crowd, at the end of the campground loop and took the Broken Arch trail. This 1.7 mile hike has everything. You get to see two arches, you hike through high dessert sandscape, over slick rock, through the broken arch and down a steep drop, naviate a long trail back that has elevation, rock scrambles and often uncertainty that causes one to wonder if they are possibly still on the right trail. The answer is, yes! After that we parked at an overlook, ate our “in-car” lunch and then went to the Fiery Furnace overlook and then the sneaky way to view Delicate Arch, the one on the Utah license plate, and then the old ranch nearby. We headed back to the hotel about 4 and off to a very nice dinner at Thai Bella. After a long walk though town we returned to the room and shared our second pie from the Gifford house at Capital Reef. Tomorrow, earlier, we are back to Arches.

Capital (PIE) Reef National Park /  by Dave Hileman

We were just 10 minutes from Capital Reef and the first stop at the park (after coffee in Torrey) was at the Gifford House. They sell small pies that are pie perfection. Bought a cherry and a mixed berry. Lots more about the orchards and pie next week. The park is neat. We drove the scenic road to the end, then along a more or less one lane dirt and sand road another 3 or 4 miles to the parking area for our hike in the Capital Reef Gorge. This was once a road in and out of the settlement and you can still see an occasional pipe inserted into the canyon wall that held a phone line. About 1/2 mile in we arrived at the wall where both indian petroglyphs and settlers added names and dates to their journey thought this pass. We had nice morning here but rain started just as we returned to the car so after a stop at the VC and a second petroglyph site, we headed toward Arches. This is a road with no services, very few signs of any inhabitation for miles. Just high desert and canyons. Beautiful. We arrived in Moab about 3, settled into our hotel, very nice, and explored a bit of the town after an excellent dinner at Pasta Jo’s. Then a trip to Arches to see sunset. It was a bit underwhelming but still nice to be out on a very comfortable night. What was special were the Mammatus clouds and a rainbow. Just too cool.

We will return to Arches in the morning and also a brief stop at Canyonlands National Park.

Rainbow and the forming Mammatus clouds.

Mammatus Cloud

balance rock from this perspective looked more like Nefertiti Egyptian Queen in 14th century BC, according to Jill. It is good that we are renaming all of these formations.

Arches sunset

NUMBER 377, a new park! /  by Dave Hileman

It has been awhile but today I added a new park, Cedar Breaks the 377th park, to the long list of National Park Service sites I have visited and photographed. This was my third attempt to get here. I forget the reason why the first try did not succeed but the last one was because the park did not open until August (I was here late May when they still had 8 feet of snow on the ground.) Third time charm is how the saying goes. The park is a little over an hour north of Zion at over 10,000 feet. It is a huge 2500 feet deep and 3 mile across “amphitheater.” Jill and I also saw our first Bristlecone Pine, a relatively young one about 1600 years old, less than half the oldest of its kind. This tree started about the time the Romans left Britannia. We enjoyed the view, a hike on the upper Alpine Lake trail and the fact that the rest rooms opened on May 22nd for the season. The drive here from Kanab was really pretty but the drive to the next park, Bryce, was spectacular as we descended into a canyon from 11,000 feet about 2 miles out of the park, to 5100 feet in less than 10 miles. Steep 18% grade in places, winding, windy and raining. A great combo. Also made more interesting because I made a wrong turn and we missed the short way to Bryce and added 45 minutes to our trip.. Oops. If only someone told me (Jill did!) but off I went anyway.

We did finally arrive at Bryce with the residual crowds from Memorial Day Weekend lessoned but many people were still here. We did find a parking space, there were several by 1:30 when we got here. We hiked along the rim trail and then did 1/2 mile of the under the rim trail. Just enough to get a feel for the size and colors of the Hoodoos. We took a long way back to the car, my day for misdirection and headed toward Torrey, Utah. We settled in at a sort of okay hotel and had a good but very overpriced meal at a nearby Mexican restaurant. Tomorrow we will start the day with a visit to Capital Reef National Park Stay tuned for the PIE.

The deep amphitheater at Cedar Breaks

Alpine Trail

At Cedar Breaks you get to experience Spring again

with snow still on the ground

A bristlecone

Bryce Canyon

Sunday (I know it is not now:) /  by Dave Hileman

We were tired from the 18,000 steps at Zion and navigating the crowds, so we slept in. Or Jill did, I wish I did, but I did sleep OK. Up about 6:30. I worked on photos, jill wrote in our log, that is so much more as she processes a day. Fun to see things through her eyes. Then we watched Cedar Springs Church service as the options here seemed iffy at best. I cleaned up a bit of the car, Jill worked on some packing and then we went into town. Our plan included a few stops, a historic house, a visitor center museum and a coffee shop. After that the plans changed. We had been told a few times to go to the Best Friends Animal Society and take a tour. Well we did. Quite an amazing operation on 6500 acres of beautiful canyon land where the operate a no kill rescue facility that employs over 400 people with a budget in excess of 200 million dollars a year. Quite a free tour, beautiful scenery and a great story. They have dozens of buildings, a restaurant, lodging, RV park, cutting edge health care for all the animals and scores of volunteers. They influence shelters across the US with their ground-breaking policies and care. Not on our plan but a worthwhile 90 minutes. We returned to the house to complete packing and clean up, rode to a nice lake where we walked a bit and stopped in a grocery for a few things. Ate dinner with the leftovers from last night. Just one photo today, taken at the Animal Shelter’s porch.

Off in the AM for Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon and back to more hiking and photography. Thanks for peeking in and we are back on track for photos and parks tomorrow.

Zion National Park /  by Dave Hileman

Zion on Memorial Day Saturday - good planning Dave. Well it is when were are here. Plus I did not realize Memorial Day was this weekend. Oops. Still we were up and out by 6:20 for our one hour trek to Zion. We entered from the East side with no delays, through the crazy rock hewn tunnel (built in two years starting 1928 - some of our current building projects should take a lesson). We arrived at the VC at 7:28 - there were zero parking slots! However, I recalled that there were a very few, maybe 30 spots, at the Human History Museum. And guess who got the last one! We shuttled back to the VC and got in line for the bus to the end of the canyon. Only took 35 minutes to get a bus. At the hike to the narrows, it was not too crowded but very busy. Still enjoyable. We veered off the trail and walked along the river a couple of times. Then back on the shuttle and a stop at the Weeping Rocks. This is a place that I have often had to myself, not today. Lovely spot however. Then to the lodge for a cold drink and the hike to the Emerald Pools. They were neither emerald or pools today, not enough water to make a pool of any color. Back to the bus stop and return to the car where I gave up my spot to a very grateful family. We stopped just before the tunnel and perched on the edge of the road - safely - while we ate our picnic lunch. We made it through the tunnel in pretty good time but the wait on the other side must have been over an hour.

I was glad to visit Zion with Jill but I took only a few photos. Crowds were a factor, heat a bit and lack of opportunity to walk easily in certain places. Plus, I have four other trips worth of scenic shots and this was not the best day for taking time for good photography. We returned to Kanab, had a nice walk in town, ate a very good dinner at the Wild Thyme Restaurant and settled in for the night.

Oh, I almost forgot, since they are not open on Sunday, Jill and I managed to share another scoop of the delicious Bobbie and Nate ice cream from the Brown Box. The amazing Lemon-lavendar is one we will try and recreate once back in Knoxville.

Jill and the start of the Narrows along the West Fork of the Virgin River.

The meager drips of the Emerald Waterfall.

Along a hike

Sloooow /  by Dave Hileman

It was not intended to be such a slow day but a migraine made it so.

Not that we had too much planned for the day. It was one that we expected to spend exploring the area. We began at Duke’s a small clothing store in town to get Jill a sunshirt that would be comfortable and not as hot. Success. We walked the town, looked at the many movie information signs and ate a light lunch at the Brown Bo:, soup, bread and a cookie. We also walked through the historic Parry Lodge, where the casts of many movies stayed during the shooting in the area.

Then I needed to get into a dark place and ingest some more aspirin. Later that evening, feeling a bit better, Jill drove us into the Johnson Canyon about 10 miles east of Kanab. This is where many movies were filmed and the show Gunsmoke shot. The last of the long fallen-into-rubble set was removed a couple of months ago. Still neat to see where Marshal Dillon held sway.

We again ate dinner at the Rocking V. Amazing burger! Then a scoop of ice cream - Caramel with brownie bites. Bed early for we were going to Zion an hours drive in the early morning. Unfortunately- I slept little, an issue with my migraine meds.

Johnson Canyon

Graffiti on the wall, called “Cowboy” graffiti. There is an ‘ad” for Kodak Film and Jason’s Store and Garage that offers ice

This is where Gunsmoke’s town set was and all the episodes were shot here. (also F-troop at a fort set south of here and “How the West was Won” plus scores more.

Toadstool Day /  by Dave Hileman

We drove from Williams AZ to Kanab Utah. It was a bit over 5 hours of driving. It took us across miles of the Navaho tribal lands, where we stopped a bit to take in view points. We also stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam. It was 173 feet below full, at 23% capacity. No snow this past winter is tough on the water supply for millions of people. And while it is much less important it also meant that for the fourth time I did not get to see the Rainbow Bridge National Monument. The boats cannot reach the area with this little water in the lake. I believe I will X that one off my list.

We stopped at one of the scores of places to hike in the Grand Staircase Esclante National Monument at the Toadstool. It is a one mile out and then back the same trail. It was quite hot, about 88 degrees in full sun. It is a neat hike to a very interesting rock formation, actually several of them, that gives the hike its name. After, we continued on Route 89 to Kanab our base for four days. We arrived at a most perfect VRBO, just delightful with wonderful hosts next door who insisted we do not go into town for a laundry but use their own.

We ate an excellent dinner at Rocking V Cafe in town. Cowboy Chicken was mine with “to die for” potatoes and corn while Jill had the Grand Staircase, a multi-layered tortilla with veggies, cheeses, some greens and a green chili sauce. We had no leftovers to bring back to the house.

And Ice Cream. Yay, Spike. We had excellent homemade unique ice cram at the Brown Box. Jill had a lavender - lemon and I, a nutter butter. We will be back.

We are planning a slower, not too much drving day tomorrow to explore the town and the area. Then a long day at Zion.

It was Grand /  by Dave Hileman

The Grand Canyon is still here if you were concerned. But it sure is busy. Shuttle buses, parking lots with names and numbers, and lots of people but, surprisingly, it did not feel too crushed. I guess because it is a grand canyon. We arrived mid-afternoon by design having eaten a nice lunch and meandered through some shops in Williams. This way we avoided the long lines to enter the park, sometimes over an hour. We were in the park in less than 10 minutes and parked near the VC. First a long walk along the rim. Jill’s first visit here and she wrote: “It was much more than I expected. Walking from the parking lot and suddenly there it was in all its inexpressible majesty - peak upon peak of towering cliffs stretching away below us for 10 miles. ….Every step you took opened up new vistas and new perspectives.”

We then bused to the historic village and looked at some of the original Mary Coulter buildings and enjoyed more views. Then a bit of nostalgia for me. In 1960 my dad came to Phoenix to try for a job. My mom and I were in tow. He did not get the job but we came north to Flagstaff for the Indian Pow Wow, then to the Grand Canyon. My Aunt provided us with a bit of vacation as she had traveled here twice and knew I would love the experience. We stayed in the lodge, not a big deal back then. Just one night - i don’t recall much of the arrival but the next moring I was on my own for about 3 hours and ended up sitting most of the time on a rock watching the colors of the canyon change. I was awed. I had not been back to the lodge since. So it was very moving for me and Jill took my photo about the same place I sat for most of that morning. I think my love of travel began that day.

We then drove a bit east and found a perfect spot for our picnic and watched the sun go down. What a wonderful day.

High Canyon Walls /  by Dave Hileman

We did a slower day today. Checked out the laundry facility and vetoed it - try at Kanab later this week. Explored a bit of the town, bought food for two picnics, one today and one tomorrow at the Grand Canyon.

We chose to drive into the Oak Creek Canyon that is just south of Flagstaff. Perfect choice. The landscape is so pretty and dramatic as you descend nearly 2000 feet. First stop was at an outdoor Indian market where we bought a nice Navaho made ornament for the Christmas tree. Then to a picnic area where we had massive cliffs rising over us, birds everywhere, blue skies and spring green trees. It was about 68 degrees and no wind. Perfect. Then off to our hike on the West Fork trail. It took us past the remains of an old small inn built here in the thirties and visited by many famous people over the years. Sadly it burned in 1980. The hike was really nice with simply glorious scenery. If this were Zion it would have had hundreds of people hiking the trail but here we passed only a few. Lots of solitude to hear the steam and the wind in the trees and the great variety of birds. Merlin ID’d 24..

We gave Spike two days off (picnic, remember) so he could fly north to Kanab, our next stay spot and redeem himself with a decent ice cream choice. So, along with our picnic we sought out a Chick-fl-A for a quick dinner. Clearly we do need guidance.

Finished the day with a walk up the old Route 66 street in Williams. Lots of neon.

Tomorrow is going to be a Grand view.

Moving West Again /  by Dave Hileman

Breakfast was wonderful at the Pueblo Cultural Center. Jill had a blue corn meal porridge with nuts, seeds and fruit. I had Superfood pancakes - three massive ones. I gave one to Jill and ate one and a half of the remaining two. They also were made with blue corn meal and a host of healthy nuts and grains. Really good and this meal took care of lunch too, with the exception of a shared apple!

Off to the Painted Desert. Jill wrote in our log:

“The area for miles is flat prairie and then suddenly you are looking over a canyon that stretches for miles and miles. It is full of scrub covered rocky hills and valleys and the colors are those gorgeous desert shades of peach and salmon, red brick, lavender, indigo, sandy brown and gray. The grandeur of it is overwhelming. What God hath wrought!“

The wind was fierce the whole trip and tiring to drive with maximum concentration on the nearly five hour journey from Albuquerque to Williams. Nice to share the driving.

Our next stop was Walnut Canyon National Monument. This is a really cool place to visit and overlooked by most people who are here to see the Grand Canyon. Here you can walk the Island trail that takes you around a mile loop of an outcropping of the canyon that winds through the homes that were built under the overhanging rocks. (You get the added benefit of adding 800 stairs to your daily step count!) How these people lived was extraordinary. Water was obtained by a steep and long descent to the intermittent stream and carried by one clay pot at a time and stored in pottery vessels for the dry season. They farmed the flat land above, hunted and lived in a community of about 200-300 homes from around 1000 to 1250 and then abandoned the site. The people here merged into the Hopi but still revere the site and remember those “who stayed behind.”

Arrived in Williams at an unexpectedly large - read Disneyesque - hotel. Found a good dinner at the Pine Diner, once again Spike scores. The pie was so good that Spike is given a few days reprieve for not finding good ice cream. Still….

One of the overlooks at the Painted Desert

The VC at the Painted Desert portion of park was once a small hotel and restaurant and this is the restored 1940’s lunch counter.

Walnut Canyon

Did I mention the pancakes?

Amarillo Plus /  by Dave Hileman

Up early sort of and off to the Valles Caldera, a recent NPS National Monument. This is a stunning place with a 14 mile long stretch of some of the most fertile grazing land in NM. An active ranch until about 2000 it became part of the NPS a very few years later. Still under development but you don’t need to wait for beautiful views, wildlife viewing, miles and miles of hiking trails and much more. We arrived here by a back road up the mountains that provided gorgeous scenery. After the park, we took another small road to the back side of Los Alamos. Entrance by showing your ID! We walked a bit of the town, saw Bathtub row where the lead scientists lived, some of the town and a few buildings before heading down to Santa Fe. We enjoyed a bit of the main plaza and stumbled into another neat concert (like the one at the Orkney Islands last May). The Santa Fe Symphony Chorus and Chamber Orchestra doing a free concert in the St Francis of Assisi Cathedral. Lovely. Dinner was at the Sawmill - a food court. Jill and I split a very good puttanesca pasta. Spike is doing a good job on the food front, still no ice cream - his job is hanging by a thread.

Tomorrow after breakfast as the Pueblo Cultural Center we are off to Williams, Arizona. Stay tuned!

A small portion of the caldera. The barn c 1900 was used for sheep when this area grazed 30,000 of them before WWII.

Fan of Longmier? This is the house on the show, built about 1918 and used until 2003.

Another of the historic ranch houses, this one painted red, for Ruby, the housekeeper

Lots of these guys and a treat to watch.

This is the site of the main labs of the Manhattan Project, now a park

Wonderful concert in Santa Fe at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi.

Oldest house in the US. Santa Fe, New Mexico

Amarillo /  by Dave Hileman

Amarillo always evokes a memory for me. First western trip with Cindy in 1976, we would camp one night and stay in a motel the next, usually. Our orange 1971 VW was packed! We arrived in Amarillo after dark, found a campground, set up and went somewhere to get a burger. Back at the campsite, very dark, climb into the sleeping bags in the orange nylon tent and then about 10 minutes later the tent shook, there was a horrible load roar and then spotlights bright as day lit up the tent. Turns out we were 200 yards from the end of the airport runway. Thankfully, only one more plane that night.

This trip was from Dallas, so we worked through a lot of traffic and developments for more than an hour, then things thinned out. As we went north the land flattened and the wind grew strong. Plus the added attraction of fires in the area provided a lot of smoke and haze. We stopped for a tour of the Goodnight Ranch. He was one of the first ranchers in the panhandle and accomplished a great deal and was well thought of by the people of the area as a kind and generous man. The Goodnight trail was one of the first cattle drives. His wife, Mary, also saved the southern Bison, by taking four or five young bison and bottle feeding them. Today’s herd is from her efforts.

We arrived in Amarillo and chose to eat dinner at the most touristy spot in the area, Big Texan. Jill did not try to eat the 72 ounce meal - good decision. The food here is decent. Steaks are excellent, sides a bit uneven - nothing bad and some really good, the rolls are nice too. Then off to our room and no planes overhead. Next day Santa h and the Vallas Caldera National Monumnet

The “Castle on the Plains” An 1880 home that was much grander than enyone expected in this area.

On to Dallas... /  by Dave Hileman

…where we were able to visit some of Jill’s family and friends I have known about for a long time but did not know well in person. It was a delightful time for both Jill and me.

We spent a bit of the morning walking around Hot Springs after an excellent breakfast at a diner that began operation in 1940! The list of well-known people who have eaten breakfast here is extensive.

Then off to Heath a part of the Dallas metro. Dinner was at their favorite family owned Mexican restaurant. You know it is likely good when the first thing inside the door is a room where you can watch the fresh tortillas being made. Great meal with a wonderful family. Aunt Jill was delighted to be with her brother and sister-in-law, her nephews and their families including a toddler and a baby about Mary Evelyn’s age.

The trip took awhile, lots of traffic, lots of construction and one place where we spent 25 minutes to go 3 miles.

A “don’t miss” recommendation by Spike! 🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵

Baby therapy for Jill :)

The Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs

Off to a Great Start /  by Dave Hileman

…for this jaunt to the American Southwest. We drove on day one to Hot Springs, Arkansas. There we stayed at the Arlington Hotel right downtown, easy walk to restaurants, the old bath house, NP sites and lots of bars. As well as the bubbling hot springs water the town is justly famous for. Our only stops were brunch with Jill’s sister in Nashville and at the pyramid under the bridge in Memphis. Fortunately I was able to rescue Jill from certain doom. No need for applause and medals, just what any standard hero would do, he stated modestly. Hot springs is a fascinating place full of history: this is where Spring Training began, horse racing, gambling, speakeasies flourished, and it was a haven for major criminals who declared this neutral ground so they drank, gambled and ate together instead of shooting each other. That always came AFTER they left town. I expected Hercule Poirot to emerge from the bath house or the dinning room and solve one of the many murders (not among the professional criminals) that occurred here over the years.

Next day we visit friends and family

Main dinning room at the Arlington hotel

Men’s sauna bath area

Women’s lounge and music room

The promenade which enabled you to travel to and from the bathhouses without having to walk on the main street.

Oh, yes, did I mention that I rescued Jill along the way?

Yes, We Are! /  by Dave Hileman

Two Lane Touring is saddling up and headed west. Posting starts on Saturday for the adventure. You might see a bit more of our new crew member, Spike. Spike is a native of the great Southwest and fluent in snacks. He is, of course, a Cactus Wren and able to lead into the most fabulous of the National Parks and lots more.

Loss /  by Dave Hileman

This statue is to recall the young men who died in WWI from this small village of Inveraray in Scotland. It sits along the harbor in a small park. How emotional and striking it would have been 100 years ago to those who knew and had lived among those who died in France. Now it is where you sit on a park bench and eat ice cream. But, perhaps, that is a part of why they fought.

Congratulations... /  by Dave Hileman

…to my beautiful and accomplished graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Addie is off to a new job in Los Angelos with her newly minted degrees in Business and Economics. I don’t know what adventures await her but I do know how proud I am of the young woman she has become. Go with love and prayers, Addie.