We left the campground and followed the shoreline north and stopped to watch the tide come in.  The tide rises about 10 feet and it’s very impressive to watch.

We said goodby to New Hampshire this morning and arrived in Bass Harbor Maine at about 2PM. The last 50 miles was fairly hectic, driving on a very bad “tourist area” two lane road at speeds of 25 to 50 MPH. I’ll not complain about Michigan or Mississippi roads again.

Our campsite is located in Bass Harbor campground, near the Acadia National Park. The campground sits 1/2 mile from the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse. This afternoon we explored the Bass Harbor area including Seal Cove and the villages of Tremont, Bernard, and Bass Harbor. This is a genuine local fishing area. Every yard has lobster traps stacked up ready to deploy. Dinner was provided by Seafood Ketch, a typical coastal restaurant found in New England.

After dinner we toured the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. This has a beautiful  view of the ocean and Harbor and one of the best sunset viewing locations in the area. In the parking lot we met Bonnie, Tim and Charley the chariot horse.  Bonnie and Tim are a very nice couple riding their home mad chariot trike to lighthouses down the Eastern seaboard to raise money for Shriners Hospitals.  When Charley left the parking lot a loud whinny was heard! Very cool.

Border crossing bridge

Really!11

Seal Cove

Day three found us arriving at Tuxbury Pond RV  Resort located near Amesbury New Hampshire. Part of the campground lies in New Hampshire and the other part is in Massachusetts. We are sleeping on the “line” so to speak.  After setting up we drove to Portsmouth New Hampshire about 30 miles away. We followed the coast line gawking at the huge homes on the water. I wonder what their property taxes are? UGGG!  Portsmouth is a quaint coastal village with neat shops and great restaurants.

At the Portsmouth harbor entrance we took pictures of two light houses and Fort Constitution. The fort used to be named William and Mary when the British occupied it. In 1814 it was renamed and rebuilt. Watch the attached video.

We enjoyed dinner dockside at the River House restaurant. The Sea food chowder was excellent. We’re hoping to get our fill of sea food during the next month.

New York continues to surprise us with its  beauty. The rolling hills along I 88 and I 86 are stunning.

We arrived at Hide A Way resort in Central Bridge New York. Very windy today and I’m glad we stopped fairly early.

Great stop for the night

There were several Ranger led hikes in the park and this one sounded exciting and borderline dangerous. After a few moments talking to the Ranger who showed pictures of the more strenuous parts of the hike Nancy begged off but encouraged Dave who eagerly jumped at the chance for the “3 hour tour”.  

The Fiery Furnace is a labyrinth of tall rock formations so tightly woven together that you can get lost in the maze if you didn’t know the way.

Dave ready for the adventure

Ranger/guide

The Ranger led us down the trail which was very steep.  At the bottom we stopped and she gave one of four different talks about the area, rock formations, plants and animals.

Showing how to scramble down the cliff

One of the many short slot canyons

We all entered a large bowl shaped area with walls all around us.  The Ranger showed us a key hole and said we could crawl through it or walk around and meet on the other side.  I watched as half of the party went up the narrow ridge and climbed through the hole.  I finally made up my mind to go through, thinking “when am I ever going to have the chance to do this again?” So up and through I went.  I had to remove my back pack to fit through the key hole. On the other side the narrow trail led pretty much straight down!  See photos below.

Key hole slot that Dave crawled through

Other side of the key hole looking down

I was very glad that I did it.

There were many times that the entire party was strung out along the trail.  The terrain was very difficult for someone unsure of themselves or who was afraid of heights.  The lady in the center of the photo above had several problems.  The man to the right was there to catch her if she fell.  One person did fall crossing one of the large boulders.

As you can see from the photo above a person could get lost in the chasms.

One of the best scrambles

The photo above shows the end of the best scramble where we first slid down a rock to start crab walking with hands pushing off the rock face in front of us and our feet holding us on the other side of the empty drop off that you see above.  When we got to the end the little canyon narrowed enough to turn putting one foot on either side of the canyon allowing us to carefully step down.  This is not a place to twist an ankle!

Rest stop

Pool at the rest stop where animals enjoyed a drink

Arch in huge cavern

The area of the Fiery Furnace was beautiful.  The color of the rock and the different formations were almost overwhelming.  The Ranger led tour was simply fantastic!

After setting up at Spanish Trails RV park in Moab we set off exploring Arches National park.  We started at the visitor center talking to the Rangers and getting the lay of the park.  After watching the very informative video we headed out and up into the park. There were many view points and opportunities to stop and hike, the scenery is just breath-taking.

Relaxing at Spanish Trails RV Park

One of Utah’s’ many Ravens

Double Arch

Delicate Arch

The Windows

Among the many rock formations we found this one below that certainly looks like a person.

“Old Man in the Desert”

Balanced rock

Balanced rock

Arches National Park draws many visitors.  Some hike, others are photographers, and still others capture the beauty on canvas.

Artist working at Double Arch

Landscape Arch

We ended the day at Courthouse Towers view Point, Lasalle Mountain.

The park is full of beautiful formations and unusual landscape.  We will return for a longer visit in the future.  At times we just wanted to sit and soak in the amazing beauty that God carved for all to see.  We would be remiss not thanking those that had the vision to protect the National Parks and those that work to keep them safe and clean for future generations.

Utah is a uniquely beautiful state.  The Colorado River, combined with wind and millenia has created an area of beautiful ruggedness not seen anywhere else. The Bryce Canyon area is really the uppermost rim of the Grand Canyon even though the commonly known North Rim is a hundred miles to the south.  The geological “Grand Staircase” encompasses all this tortured terrain leaving us to view spectacular landscapes of mountains, valleys, and strange-looking Hoodoos.

Utah is an outdoor paradise for hiking, biking, white water rafting and ATV enthusiasts. For those that just want to drive to scenic over-looks and take pictures, you will not be disappointed in the least!  The same point of land looks different at sunrise and sunset.  The short time that we were there was not nearly enough to fully explore all that Utah has to offer. We loved it here and hope to be back many times.

We left Buffalo Wyoming on Oct. 4 at 9am driving south on I-25 towards Casper. At Casper we veered west on Hwy 220.  We stopped at Independence Rock which has been a local landmark for decades.  Early travelers would leave messages for others carved in the stone.  This rock is huge measuring a mile at its base.

Continuing west on WY 220 we connected with WY 789 and turned south towards Colorado staying the course all the way to Craig CO. Just before the Wyoming/Colorado border we encountered a big surprise.  20 cowboys were herding about 300 cattle along the side of the road. What do you do in the middle of no where next to a cattle drive?  Stop in the road and take pictures!  As you can see they used the entire road.

We said goodbye to Wyoming and hello to Colorado.

My brother Bruce had recommended this route to us and we’re sure glad we took it.  The road was great, no traffic, lots of great scenery and plenty of wildlife.  We spent the evening in Craig Colorado at the local Wal-Mart. We don’t do that often but when just passing through it makes for an easy safe place to stop over night.  We did notice a museum while driving through Craig and decided to check it out.  This was a great museum focusing on cowboys, gunfighters and weapons.  The museum was full of old west memorabilia from the surrounding area. What a treat and admission was free!

cowboy statue outside the Craig CO museum

Gloves worn by Buffalo Bill Cody

Small sample of the weapons on display

We left Craig the next morning with Moab Utah as the destination. In between Craig CO and Meeker CO we saw a mountain lion cross the road!  This is the second big cat I have seen in the wild.  The first one was in Michigan in Between Cadillac and Meesick.

About 1PM we pulled into Spanish Trails RV park in Moab Utah.  We quickly set up camp and went exploring.

Twice a year, spring and fall the public is invited to walk up and on the Crazy Horse Memorial on a sanctioned Volksmarch.  The memorial is a huge sculpture set into  mountain, and when finished it will be larger than Mount Rushmore. The work on the memorial has been funded all by private donations and principally has been worked on by the Korczak Ziolkowsky family.  Korczak, a sculptor by trade, won first prize at the 1939 Worlds Fair. After that he was asked to work on the Mount Rushmore project.  Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote to him appealing to him to create a memorial to the american indians. After serving in World War II Korczak accepted Chief Standing Bear’s offer and started working on the massive project by himself in 1947.  He continued until his death in 1982 at age 74.  During his 36 years of working on the memorial he refused to take any salary.  His entire family carries on the project today and is a testimony to what can be done with enough passion and hard work.

The walk stated in the parking area at 8AM and wound through the aspen forest surrounding the memorial.  It’s obvious that we had to walk up extreme elevation changes.  Fortunately the steepest switch-backs didn’t occur until right at the base of the memorial itself. The total walk encompassed about 4.5 miles.

The Scigliano family left to right Steve,Dave,Sue,Nancy and Connie

It was a beautiful walk through the Aspen forest

Enjoying the day! (Not really texting)

At each mile point volunteers were there passing out water and other goodies to all the hikers.

Are we there yet?

Hole started under the arm

Getting closer

Close-up detail of the eye

The whole gang at the top!

On the way down we stopped at the hole under the arm for a photo op.

The walk down was significantly easier than the walk up the mountain.  we stopped several times along the way to get one last look.  The sun was shinning at such an angle on the face of Crazy Horse that we thought that we saw a tear in his eye.

Such a sad look

Back at the visiter center we looked at the many sculptures by the same artist, and some Native American cultural displays.

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The total experience was fantastic and we consider ourselves fortunate to have done it.  The five of us had a great time together on the mountain. It’s hard to say how many more years the Volksmarch will continue.  If you are able, it is a great family adventure. add it to your “bucket list”!

Saturday October 1st found us at Mt Rushmore National Memorial. The majestic sculpture is beautiful.  The memorial grounds have changed since we were here last over 30 years ago.  A visiter center, informational movie theater, and Avenue of Flags  with pillars displaying each state’s flag flying welcomed us to the site.

We looked for the Michigan and Wyoming flags as we walked in.

Michigan State flag.  Breezy day, flag is backwards.

The sculpture can really be viewed from the road without paying the hefty fee to park.  Views from closer vantage points are much better.

We hiked around the monument area on the Presidential trail. That led us to a museum and multiple view points.

Model used for the mountain sculpture

As you can see from the model above, the carvings were actually supposed to include more of each president.  The stone below the heads was not strong enough for carving the rest of the bodies.

Survey Marker

We enjoyed our time at Mt Rushmore looking at one of America’s artistic treasures.