Rescuing little Abby, Moab Utah

Whilst we were cycling away from the little square in Moab, where we had bought a couple of pre-owned movies I spotted a little Yorkshire terrier walking along the pavement. I assumed that there would have been somebody calling the dog in no time, since the little doggy was close to the main road. I try shouting towards Wahid that I had spotted this dog walking along the pavement and that I thought it was rather dangerous. Before he could react the dog started crossing the road, I feared that the dog was going to be run over by one of these great big trucks, every thing went so fast, felt really helpless when she was out on the road, but to my surprise cars stopped left right and centre from the dog and was unharmed. The dog ran bag to the pavement and went onto the grass, a white truck stopped to see what was going on. I managed to get to the dog faster and called for it, to my surprise she just rolled over in the grass and seemed that she wanted to play, I had no problem picking her up. She was obviously no stray dog; she had a pink collar with “diamante” studs and little pony tails in her hair. There I stood with this little doggy, not knowing what to do with her, nobody was rushing towards us claiming the dog. Luckily there was a hotel right near the corner of the road and the dog had a dog tag on her collar with a local Moab phone number and her name, so I went inside the hotel, inquiring whether they could make a phone call to the number on the tag. Nobody answered, but the receptionist did leave a message. Still I did not have a clue what to do with this doggy, her name was Abby. Here she was snug in my arms; she did not seem to be displeased to be there.

I went back outside to talk to Wahid what to do next. We could not take her, but I felt reluctant to leave her at the hotel. Went back in and asked the guy I had spoken to before if I would be a problem leaving her behind till the owner would show up. He said that was not a problem, so I took her over to the backroom, put her on the ground and immediately she started exploring the place. Within a minute she was out of there and back in the lobby, before she got out I called Abby over and to my surprise she responded really well, I lured her into the backroom, the guy said that he would keep her inside. After talking to him for a little while longer I had to leave, we still had to cycle back to the campground and wanted to make it before it became dark. Now I am sitting here wondering what happened to little Abby, gosh she was so cute, could not help feeling that I had to protect her at least a little bit. Maybe tomorrow morning before we leave for the park we can stop by the hotel and find out if the owner did turn up and pick up little Abby.

Our own little Alp d'Huez

We woke up pretty early, around 7 o’clock we started driving towards Gila National Forest via the Pinos Altos, which hours later would crowed with cycling fans because the tour de Gila would finish there. While driving we did not see many other vehicles on the road, maybe the odd cyclist on his way to Silver City for another cycling day. After a short while, the road became narrower and it had a couple of hairy turns. A good thing that we did not encounter any traffic coming our way, because some of the turns were so tight that we took the entire road to turn the motor home. At one of the overlooks we stopped, somebody had gone over the edge of the road in the past and had crashed their car in such a way that the poor sod probably would not have survived the crash. It was a sobering moment. After a short stop, we went on and we came to another overlook. A couple was having breakfast, while were admiring the stunning view we stroke up a conversation. The couple told us that in a matter of a couple of hours the Tour the Gila would come by at that same spot and that is was probably one of the better spots to view the cyclists up close. At first, we wanted to continue to the park, but we both thought it would be fun if we could see them up close. We parked up the motor home properly; it took almost the entire turn out to park up. We had some breakfast and a cup of tea whilst waiting for the cyclist to arrive.

More and more cars were pulling up trying to park at the same spot we were in; it was turning in a right little Alp d’Huez! Around ten-thirty the first cyclists were in sight, than a second group with Lance Armstrong with some other big names as well. I managed to get a couple of descent shots of Lance Armstrong.

Nils & Karen, the couple we had met at the viewpoint, drove us to a better point along the road, it was impossible for us to pull out our motor home at that point. From our new advantage point, we had a second change to view the cyclists one more time. We met up with some of the other people we had met in our previous spot; one of them was the spitting image of John McEnroe. Even his voice sounded the same. Some of the were huge cycling fans and they seemed to know a fair bit about cycling and kept us up to speed. In the distance, we saw the leader coming up and shortly after that; we saw a second group coming up with Chris Horner leading and Lance Armstrong right beside him, followed directly by Leibheimer. After waiting a short while the cyclists had to start their climb back up the mountain, this time the Lance Armstrong and his teammate, followed by Leibheimer were much closer to the leader. Here I managed to get a couple of decent photos.

Number o4. is Lance Armstrong
Number 71. is Chris Horner
And in the red jersey is Levi Leibheimer





After waiting till most of the cyclists had past by, a small group with Floyd Landis came by. Landis had won the Tour de France a number of years ago, but after the tour he tested positive and was banned from cycling for a number of years. This year he was trying to make his come back, however he did not seem to do that well. After the last cyclist had gone past we all exchanged e-mail addresses and said our goodbyes and hitched a ride with Nils & Karen back to our motor home, they also were heading towards the park, but it took us longer to get up there. Besides we had to find also a spot for the night, which we did at Upper Scorpion Campground.

Day 6, Scenic Drive to Santa Elana Canyon

All though up early, we left a little later than planned, first stop along the route was Sam Nail Ranch, or what was left of it. From the old house only a couple of wall are still standing, the mill is still going and pumps up water which creates a little haven for plants and birds. The Nail family planted fig and pecan trees that still grow there, however the native species are taking over the area rapidly. Mossies and flies infested the place big time, so we did not stay there that long.

At the Homer Wilson Ranch Overlook we took the trail to the ranch. This ranch was deserted in 1945, but the ranch would still make a very nice house. Amazingly how cool it was inside, in spite the fact that the temperature outside was soaring. In the olden days they used to keep 4000 sheep and 2.500 goat up in this area. In the summer months they would herd them up into the canyon not far from the ranch. Just when I was contemplating out loud how life would have been in those days and I stepped outside, I heard the rattle of a rattlesnake. With two jumps and a big yell I was back inside the house. Just in the corner outside near the steps was a smallish rattler, no mistake about that. Strangely enough Wahid had gone down those steps only minutes before and had walked the small path right passed the rattler. Even though we stepped onto the porch in order to see the rattler from the other side, he was very much aware of us. Because the animal was all coiled up we did not come in striking range. After taking a couple of photos we went back to the motor home to continue our route.

At Mule Ears Overlook we stopped off and decided to go for the 3,8 mile round trip to the springs. It was around 13:00 and the temperature was probably over 90 degrees again. This hike leads though a desert area with no shade what so even until the end. We walked the trail in 45 minutes, and we were both glad to reach the shady area of the springs. Surprising to see how many frogs, tadpoles, dragonflies and other insects were living in this little oasis. After a good rest we walked back to the overlook in just over an hour, this time the heat seemed even more intense, probably a part of the route was uphill. We stopped off at Tuff Canyon, we walked up to the overlook, but this time we did not go into the canyon. We both could not face another hike in the heat. At Castolon we stopped off at the store, had an ice cream and walked up to Abobe House, which was in the middle of restoration, the floods of September 2008 nearly destroyed it, Mexicans came to help the restore the adobe with old techniques, a lot work still has to be done. Cottonwood campground was near by and we searched for a nice shady place for the night. A bucket with water to cool my feet in was like sheer heaven to me.

After a good hour rest we drove to Santa Elena Gorge, at the Overlook we stopped but remained in the shade, the heat seemed too intense. When we arrived at the canyon, the sun had turned so a great part of the canyon was in the shade, all though still very warm it made the walk up into the canyon a little more bearable. The water level of the Rio Grand seemed lower than last time we had been there, therefore we could wake up a little further up the canyon. I think I managed to get some darn good photos of the canyon. By the time we arrived back at Cottonwood it was after 20:00 hours, filling up the fresh water tank took ages, and half an hour later I was cooking diner. By that time we were both bushed and wanted to go to bed as soon as possible, all so because the next morning the alarm clock would go off early. Unfortunately again, not a breath of fresh air came into the bedroom and it took ages before we finally fell asleep.

Hike to Hot Springs, Big Bend NP, TX

In the middle of the night we both were awoken by the sound of the step going in and out, the previous day we had some trouble to keep the step out once parked up, but now it seemed like it had a mind of its own. In the silence of the night it made an awful loud sound. After a number of attempts to suss the bloody thing out, we both went back to bed we could hear the steps go in and out a couple of more times. After that we both fell asleep again. In the morning Wahid managed to keep the step out, hoping that it would go back in once we had to drive off. After a slow start we wandered around the campground, the trail to the Nature Trail had been closed due to a big flood in September 2008. The boardwalk was completely destroyed. Via another path we managed to get on to the trail any way and could avoid the boardwalk. We climbed up to the top to admire the view, in the distance we could see a number of kayaks peddling down the Rio Grand, if only we had a kayak. At the top a Mexican vendor had left some trinkets as souvenirs, but we did not have any money on us, midway the trail we could see him at the top, looking if we had bought anything. Unfortunately the Mexicans that live in this side of Mexico have to travel a long way to get to civilisation, a good 150 miles either way, they used to before 9/11 take tourist to the little restaurants on the Mexican side. But now the tourists are not allowed to cross the Rio Grande and their livelihood has been destroyed. How they survive is beyond me.

After arriving at the campground we got our bikes out and cycled to the Rio Grand Store, cycled to the trailhead for the Hot Springs, when a couple of bird watchers asked us if we wanted to see a Black Hawk, apparently very rare in Big Bend. We did get a good view via the bino´s, However the bird was too far away to get a proper photograph. Back at our site we stayed in for a good hour or so, it was too hot, nearly 100 degrees. We had planned to hike up to the springs once it was a little cooler. Around 3:30 pm we hit the trail but in effect it was still too hot. I was suffering big time, but we made it to the Hot Springs in the end. The water was too warm; the river looked more inviting I did not fancy the climb down some rock because I was feeling a little shaky. After spending some time in the Springs we hike back the same trail (2,5 miles one way).

Overlooking the Rio Grande (the Hot Spring Trail)
Half way we met a guy who was hiking to the springs at this late hour. The next day we would meet him again on another trail, again he was going when we were coming back. He told us than that by the time he was heading back it was too dark to take the same trail and he hiked back via the Hot Springs Road where he was picked up by a car to take him back to the campground. Some times you wonder if people are okay when they do late hikes and for ones we did get the answer. He did tell us that he all most had stepped on a rattle snake just before he was picked up by the car, luckily indeed.

The Rio Grande, on our way back to the campground.

The Route

Friday 24 April - Flight from Amsterdam to Dallas Saturday 25 April - Pick up motor home in Dallas, drive to Abilene (215 miles)
Sunday 26 April - Abilene to Big Bend Bend National Park (380 miles)
Thursday 30 April - Big Bend NP drive to Guadalupe National Park (280miles)
Sunday 3 May – Guadalupe drive to White Sands National Monument (205 miles)
Monday 4 May – White Sands drive to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (205 miles)
Tuesday 5 May – Gila Cliff Dwellings drive to Petrified Forest National Park (250 miles)
Wednesday 6 May – Holbrook drive to Las Vegas (340 miles)
Saturday 9 May – Las Vegas drive to Zion National Park (165 miles)
Wednesday 13 May – Zion drive to Monument Valley Tribal Park (240 miles) Planned serval hikes in this park, we are participating in the lottery for a back country permit for the Subway Hike. We are probably going to hike up to Angels Landing and maybe a part of the Narrows, weather permitting.
Friday 15 May – Monument Valley drive to Arches National Park (151 miles) Planning to do some horse back riding and maybe 4x4 drive.
Tuesday 19 May – Arches NP drive to Rocky Mountain National Park (405 miles) Serveral hikes planned. A visit to Estes Park, a town near the park is on our list and we are hoping to see one of our friends who is living in North Dakota, who will be visiting her daughter in Colorado in May.
Saturday 23 May – Rocky Mountain drive to Denver drop off motor home at El Monte (90 miles) total of 2928 miles without internal driving. We are staying at one of Marriott’s in the centre of town, hoping to find some time to do some sightseeing.
Sunday 24 May – Denver flight to Detroit – Amsterdam
Monday 25 May – Arrival at Schiphol

* This is the planned route, but we might make some changes along the way.

Making plans

After our yearlong trip in the States, we decided to spend our holidays for a couple of years in Europe. In 2007, we did not go on a long holiday, just a couple of weekend away, France, Germany and Luxemburg. I managed to squeeze in a couple of weeks in London too. At the beginning of 2008, we went for 3 weeks to Whistler, Canada on a ski holiday. This gave us the opportunity to catch up with friends of ours who moved to Vancouver just a couple of months before. In September that same year, we drove to the North of Spain for a three-week holiday. This year we are going back to America for another motor home holiday, we simply could not resist. The journey will take us from Dallas, Texas to Denver, Colorado. Currently we are looking into which parks to visit and planning everything we want to visit. This time we will have only one month and it is hard to decide which places to visit, there is simply too much too see in too little time. In spite the fact, this is going to be our seventh motor home trip; we still haven't seen it all.