A Cross-Country Drive

Truckee, California to Seville, Ohio and Return
April 28 to May 12, 2001

Lehman Caves

The Start of the Cross-Country Drive
Truckee, California to Cedar City, Utah

Day #1. For my two week vacation, I decided to drive across the country to visit relatives in Kentucky and Ohio and see some attractions on the way. My first day did not offer much in the way of attractions. My only stop was at Great Basin National Park to tour Lehman Caves. Unfortunately, on my tour was a troop of boy scouts with two scout leaders. The scouts were rowdy and loud, and the scout leaders did not nothing to curb their rowdiness. For myself and the other non-scout participants of the tour, it was not an enjoyable visit.

Where you see a day with italics text, that text is from a postcard that I sent while on the road to chronicle my trip. Like a postcard, it is short and to the point.

Eight Days, Five States, and a Wedding

The Southwestern United States
December 26, 2001 - January 2, 2002

A trip with the Lyons ladies (Karen and her mom Joetta) to reach a wedding in Denver and to take in some sights along the way.

December 26th. We started our drive in Lompoc, California and ended up for the night in Kingman City, Arizona. Highlights of the day were following a bit of the historic Route 66 in Barstow and viewing London Bridge in the evening lights of Lake Havasu City.

Meteor Crater

December 27th. We had plenty of highlights this day—the Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest National Park, the Navajo Nation, the Four Corners, a far off view of Monument Valley and Ship Rock, and dinner at La Placita in downtown Albuquerque where they have a tree growing from the inside up through the roof. We spent the night somewhere east of Albuquerque on I-40.

Petrified Wood at Petrified Forest National Park

The Four Corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah

A distant view of Ship Rock

The Great Goosenecks of the San Juan River

Goosenecks State Park, San Juan County, Utah
October 11, 2010

View to south from east to west

From an interpretive sign near the Goosenecks Overlook:

geology: Approximately 1,000 feet beneath the spot where you now stand winds the San Juan River. Originating in Colorado, this river eventually joins Lake Powell.

     The silt-laden San Juan has been instrumental in cutting the deep bending chasm directly below. This section is called the Great Goosenecks of the San Juan River.

     Geologists consider this part of the river to be one of the finest examples of "entrenched meanders" anywhere in the world.

     The meandering pattern originated several million years ago when the river was flowing on a relatively flat plain, much as the present-day Mississippi River.

     The San Juan became entrenched when the entire Colorado Plateau was slowly uplifted. Cutting downward, the river followed its initial pattern and thus created the canyon you now view.

     The process continues to this day as the San Juan River cuts ever deeper into prehistoric geological formations.

A Day Without Pictures

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah
October 14, 2010

This was my second visit to this national park of arches. My first visit was a short one, late on a winter day, limited to scenic stops with no hiking. Today I had the whole day to soak in the park. I decided I did not want to be burdened with a camera and the compulsion to photograph the many views I would see today; I left my camera in my motel room to remove this burden. Of the places and people I met today, I was able to think, to analyze, to imagine, to laugh, to question, to opine, and mostly to smile. Not through the camera lens but through all of my senses.

Once I got back to my motel room, I was able to relive the day by scribing notes of the day, and here are my notes:

A Man, His Truck, and The Unconquered Road

The Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
October 12, 2010

A stop at the visitor center has usually been the first order of business when I get to a national park. The visitor center is typically near the entrance and gives me an opportunity to stretch and get a feel of the lay of the land. The lay of the Canyonlands is immense, so much that it has three districts with the entrances to these districts tens of miles apart. A quick look at the visitor center exhibits and the park map gave me my agenda for the morning in The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. A scenic drive down the dead-end road to Big Spring Canyon Overlook with a side trip on the Elephant Hill access road for a distant view of the Needles. Also, a short hike on the Pothole Point Trail for my daily exercise.

The Four Corners, a Quadripoint

Teec Nos Pos, Arizona

December 27, 2001

What’s better than a tripoint? A quadripoint. Although there are 62 state tripoints, there is only one quadripoint where the borders of four states converge together. This spot in the United States is in the Four Corners region where the southeast corner of Utah, the southwest corner of Colorado, the northwest corner of New Mexico, and the northeast corner of Arizona come together. Being the only place where four states meet, the Navajo Nation has made the quadripoint a tourist draw worthy of a one-of-a-kind photograph. When my derriere was planted firmly in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, I knew no one else in America was in four states at that same exact moment in time.

The Four Corners

Web Links

Wikipedia - Tripoint