2004 – 05 . . . Journal Entry #1 - To Travel or Not to Travel . . . That was the Question!

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We have a lot of thinking and planning to do for next year.

Are we going to continue to travel the way we have? Do we want stay in one place for a lot longer? Is the truck going to give us what we need?

I don't know whether I heard this or read it but someone said: We spend the winter following the 72 degree weather.

I do like getting away from the cold, I like seeing new and different things and meeting new and different people and always learning . . . but there are a lot of different ways to do that!!

Well, that's where we left off. It is hard to realize just how the problems with the truck coloured everything we thought and did. Now, I can't imagine doing anything else (mind you, we have been able to eliminate the truck issue). As time goes by, that situation could change but, in the meantime, being on-the-road is our life-style of choice (that's one decision made - not bad, eh?).

THE TRUCK - the bane of our existence . . . so . . . after agonizing for a few weeks we starting touring the dealerships. We have ended up with a three year lease on a 3/4 ton gas Chevy extended cab with full warranty coverage for the full three years. Such a deal we couldn't refuse - it's costing us $111.00 per month. Couldn't not take it!!

So we're feeling a lot more confident about travelling and that put a whole new light on our winter sojourn. The truck's maiden voyage was the second week in May to visit my cousin in Winnipeg (trailerless). The second day out found us stranded in a snow storm in Brandon, Manitoba. We were stuck there (along with at least 100 trucks) for about 40 hours. Not an exciting time, but we managed to check out the 4 wheel drive and it works good. The truck has more bells & whistles that we expected but I'm sure we'll get used to them.

THE SUMMER OF '04 - I have become far more reflective this summer . . . I'm getting a sense of ME. I seem to have lost the feelings of panic and urgency I have experienced the past few years. I'm not afraid of NOT being a part of the workforce anymore . . . my community is as transitional as I am. My goal is to do what I enjoy and leave behind what I don't enjoy.

The summer excursions were so much more relaxed and enjoyable. On the way to the Seminars in Kelowna, we met up with friends at Vernon and toured around there for a while. We all went onto the Seminars (we did three sessions this year . . . "Relationships on the Road", "What do you Mean ... Of Course I Communicate!" and a new one on "The Quartzsite Experience") renewing old relationship and meeting new friends.

On the way back, we accidentally came across a great little RV Park at Midway, BC (Surprise!! Midway is halfway between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, just at the US border) and based ourselves there. We toured into Washington, over to Oosoyoos, toured wineries, bought fresh fruit and veg's and got lost a few times and found a "Shoot Out" and pig roast at the local pub in Midway.

Getting Going

This is the first time we have managed to leave in decent weather . . . it was so pleasant . . . no snow or rain, a little windy but tolerable. It's getting tougher to find new routes and go to places we haven't been before. Our first destination would be Canyon de Chelly in Arizona but there is so much fun in making plans and mapping out the route we would take. We left on October 9th and our first stop was at Dillon, Montana where we dry camped behind the Super 8. We heard about this from a friend. They charge $3.00 a night if you want to plug into electricity . . . well worth it. Next we stopped at Springville, Utah at the Wall Mart Hilton.

As we headed along I-70 towards the road that would take us down to Moab, Utah, we remembered that the friends we spent last Christmas with in Quartzsite were work-camping in Fruita, Colorado about 100 miles away. We called them and ended up spending a couple of days in Fruita (so we can now say we've been in Colorado, too). It was great to reconnect and we spent OUR CANADIAN THANKSGIVING with them. What a new experience for them!

Off to Moab, Utah!! . . . I do keep forgetting how commercial some of these places can be. Moab is another tourist town. From what I could see, it caters to those "Canyoneer" types - young, physically VERY fit, that hike, tent, buy L. L. Bean clothes and equipment, drink Cappuccino, frequent expensive eating places and pay $5.00 for 5 minutes Internet time at a Cyber Cafe. Beyond that, the Arches (Arches National Park) are another natural spectacle.

Apparently, there are massive salt beds underneath the park that resulted from evaporation of the sea water that covered the area about 300 millions years ago. As the climate and natural forces changed, much of the debris was compressed into rock and the salt layer shifted, buckled, liquified and reposited itself, thrusting some of the rock up into domes and down in cavities. Underground faults resulted in vertical cracks. The movement of the salt layers and surface erosion helps create the environment we see. The process continues . . . you can see so many of the layers and just imagine all the power and forces that must have existed to create all the waves, holes and arches. There are canyons throughout the whole area and you really get a sense of what the world must have been like millions of years ago.

Canyon de Chelly, Arizona ! ! Our first targeted destination! We finally made it there about the middle of October. It is unique in that, even though it is a National Park, it is in Navajo lands and very much controlled by them. There are no fees to enter the park or stay at the campground. There are actually two canyons, Canyon del Muerto and Canyon de Chelly. You can tour along the North and the South Rims but you must have a guide to go down into the canyon or explore the trails or ruins.

It is not difficult to pick out the various geological layering in the canyon. They have found plant fossils that give evidence that about 280 million years ago this area was subtropical. Over the next few hundred thousand years the climate changed from subtropical to desert thus creating the de Chelly sandstone, then the conglomerate layers. Massive shifts in the earth's crust along with the forces of mountain building, stream cutting, wind and erosion resulted in canyons we see today.

The reminiscent of campsites date back to the between 2500 and 200 B.C. but the farming and communities and then villages began to appear around 200 B.C. and disperse after 1300 A.D. Even so, there are still Navajo who live and farm in the Canyon today. So many of the ruins are built into the cliffs, they say for defence as well as protection. The White House Ruins are the most accessible and have been studies extensively. They think the first structures were constructed from a rather crude masonry style called Kayenta by the Anasazi, a farming people who preceded the Pueblo, Hopi and Navajo ( also connected to the Athabascans) around 1040 A.D. The cliff dwelling were built first and then the canyon floor structures with a rooms that were built up to reach within 4 feet of the upper level. At its prime this community contained as many as 80 rooms inhabited by 10 to 12 families . . . from 50 to 60 people. Evidence indicates that the "kivas" (circular rooms) were used for religious ceremonies similar to those Pueblo, Hopi and Navajo of today.

On to New Mexico . . . We actually left Canyon de Chelly sooner than we had planned. It was getting windy and colder and we just didn't want to deal with that. Beside, we were starting to get Canyoned out - I think my span of concentration is getting shorter . . . I can only absorb so much.

New Mexico is still my favourite place. The state is so unique, interesting and almost understated. The people are so proud of what they have and eager to share it. We spent a couple of days in Grants and then went on to visit with Paul and Lynn at the Sunny Acres RV Park in Las Cruces. I almost felt like we were coming home. These are the folks who took us over the the Soup Kitchen for Thanksgiving a couple years ago. We were very pleasantly surprised at the great changes in the park. I went with Lynn to an "Empty Bowls" fund raiser for the Soup Kitchen. The local Pottery Guild donated all kinds of bowl (about 1000 in total) and the local restaurants (as well as some local folks) donated pots of soup. For $10.00 you select a bowl and then move into an auditorium to get your soup, bread, be entertained and visit. To me, this was a perfect example of the creativity and innovation exhibited throughout the whole area. Good fun and good soup was shared by all!!

Onto Deming . . . where last spring we decided to just head on home (because of the truck). This was our initiation into the Escapee experience. The Escapees are an organization of RV'er who tend to travel rather than hold up in a park or at a resort. A lot of them are full-timers and a lot of them actually volunteer for the organization or work camp. Maybe we have found like-souls? Certainly there are more who have adopted our same life-style. An incredibly diverse and interesting population.

From here we will move further west onto Arizona. We'll be retracing many of the paths we've travelled before. It's going to be a challenge to discover more unique adventures . . . but we're committed.