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United StatesWe've encountered very few sites where the NPS has sold out to the highest bidder. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is one. Their mission here is to preserve the last remnant of original grassland that once covered most of the plains. And what large ungulate traversed those plains by the millions? Wrong, bison breath. Apparently, it was beef cattle. There is a small token buffalo heard here butRead more
United StatesWe knew this site would be a head shaker. The Sand Creek massacre and mutilation of over 200 women, children and elderly by Colorado militia in 1864 is well known to US history buffs. Almost as reprehensible was that the US government investigated, found fault but that's it. There were no consequences. The one silver lining was that the commanders of two militia companies ordered their troops notRead more
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More forts and sand dunes. Visited Bent's Old Fort Natl Historic Site, locale of the largest Outpost when the Santa Fe Trail was in it's heyday. The paparazzi would have been ecstatic with all the celebrity frontiersmen that passed through here. The adobe fort is completely and accurately rebuilt and we were lucky enough to visit on a living history day with dozens of characters in costume.
AlsoRead more
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As many of you know we've been house-hunting in Durango. In April we made an offer on a home that subsequently fell through when the seller decided she didn't want to move after all.
After seeing at least two dozen scrapers and over-priced fixer uppers we had about given up. Then one came on the market that fit most of our requirements-- walkable-bikable to town, recently build, open floor plan,Read more
United StatesAfter a blitz trip to Reno to see Hunt's mom, introduce her to her only great grandson, Elliot, and his mom (Sarah) and attend his nephew's wedding we headed back to Great Basin NP. The main goal was to take a pilgrimage to see the highest elevation grove of bristle cone pines and the lowest latitude glacier in North America. Hunt had seen both last August but this time around the glacier approachRead more
United StatesLorraine finally got to visit Great Basin National Park in Nevada after detouring from our road trip last fall for knee surgery. Definitely worth the wait as this park offers one surprise after another in the midst of the Nevada desert-- snow in June, lush mountain hillsides, a glacier, abundant wildflowers, scant numbers of campers.
United StatesWith this posting we sign off from our two months at Hovenweep using their call sign and ours (783). It has been a marvelous and rewarding experience as we have met so many engaging visitors and seen so many cultural and natural wonders.
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Took a day-trip to see the nearby supposed sister to Monument Valley. You know, the one where John Ford shot all his westerns and made the Duke famous. Anyway, Valley of the Gods is no B-grade movie set. It is every bit as stunning in its own way. Monument Valley has a few iconic pillars but Valley of the Gods has this amazing depth to it that might give Grand Canyon a run.
We also stopped inRead more
United StatesLorraine struck out off the beaten path yesterday to look for ruins in a nearby canyon. Her walk-about earned her a granary sighting. The next day she lured Hunt up the canyon to let him check it out. We climbed up to the alcove holding the ruin and learned that it has been quite well discovered many years ago. Its base had been shored up with concrete and a gaping hole suggested that it had beenRead more
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A Park Service team consisting of three Hopi Indians and one white guy has been working this month stabilizing Hovenweep Castle. Hunt was walking by one day, asking about their work and they said, why don't you join us. So he spent this afternoon "throwing mud," as they called it. A very special kind of mud made of local sifted soil and hydrated with an acrylic polymer.
He started the stint byRead more
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