Albuquerque to Cortez Colorado

Scenic Vistas!  We loved the drive from Albuquerque to Cortez, Colorado and Mesa Verde.

We left Kirtland AFB, on to Bernalillo NM, Cuba, Farmington, Shiprock and into Cortez.  It was a bright and sunny spectacular  day.

It was one great view after another.

One of those, "I can't take it all in" driving days.

To top it off, we landed at an excellent campground.  We loved our time at the Cortez/Mesa Verde KOA.  We read up on the reviews at rvparkreviews.com and then it is a roll of the dice sometimes.

This time it was a great choice.  Even though it was pricey at $44/night, it was worth every penny.

Our campsite has one of those beautiful views across the canyon.  The sites are well thought out and each have a picnic table and a campfire ring.  The sites are level and the whole campground is covered in gravel that works well.  There are no potholes or ruts.

 The campground itself is updated as if it is brand new.  It is one of the most well maintained facilities we have ever seen.  These folks do it right!  People at the front desk are friendly and the camp store is well stocked with reasonable prices.  The laundry room is full of washers and dryers that are almost new.

The flowers and grass lawns around the campground are well groomed.  The facility also has a couple of large teepees for rent with single beds inside.  There are cabins to rent like any KOA and the pool is clean I took advantage of it each day.  This place is one that I highly recommend.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Hiking the Catalinas

This place is a great one for hiking!  And a lot of people do it.  Catalina State Park has been our home for about a week and we are pretty impressed with how well things are run here.  We have enjoyed our campsite and location.

Yesterday was our day to get out and do some hiking.  We were about a mile from the trail head and started about 10:00 AM.

We took the Canyon Loop Trail and noticed a group of artists painting scenes of the mountains in the distance.

Must be a local thing.  Last week in the campground I saw a lady by her Class C painting.  Can't remember the last place I saw so many painters.

As our walk progressed Pam saw a bright bright fully red bird land in a tree nearby.  As I struggled to pull out my big camera with the telephoto lens, it got away.  Same thing happened with the couple of lizards we saw.  But I did manage to get one in my sights...

And another surprise was getting a shot of a butterfly on the trail

Not sure who this guy was in the shade of the tree

I thought the flowers were going to be gone by now.  Thought they had all bloomed out and wilted.  Nope.  

There were plenty out there

And a majestic saguaro on the decline

The Catalinas are something that you could just look at and ponder all day...

And the trails were all in good shape

It was a pretty great way to spend a couple of hours and we got some needed exercise.  We like this park and hope to hit some more trails while we are here.

That's all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Thanks for joining us!

Quartzsite Memories - 2014

We are going to leave Quartzsite later this morning and move on down the road to the Yuma.  In addition to what I have already posted in the last few days, there are a number of things I will remember from our time here.

Campfires

Sunrises

Sunsets

Rising Moon

The mountains in the distance - the 'smoky' look.  Like Princeville, HI and the Great Smoky Mountains in TN.

And the wispy clouds in the sky

And one of the most unique breakfast ideas I've seen:
"Breakfast in a Bag"

Separate your 1 or 2 eggs, put everything you want in your freezer bag, add the eggs, put your name on it, let it boil for 13 minutes - take it out of the boiling water.  Add salt and pepper.  Eat.

The leaders of the rally, (Robert and Tiziana) did a great job with lots of behind the scenes work to pull off another great 'informal' rally.  They have been doing this for the last four or five years.
Here is a picture of them from a couple of years ago:

Kudos to them!

That is all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Brothers vs. Brothers at Torrey Pines

A few months ago we knew we were going to be at Del Mar to see Rob and Chris and everyone for Thanksgiving.  When we first visited here in December 2009 we discovered Torrey Pines just a few miles away.  

Torrey Pines is one of those famous Championship municipal courses that is open to the public.  I thought about it and asked Marty if he would be up for 18 holes at Torrey Pines after Thanksgiving.  He was and we were aiming for a round of golf on Monday.  But then we talked about Sunday and asked Rob and Matt about the possibility of us all playing.

Sure enough, Rob set up a tee time for us (twilight rates) at 12:30 P.M. on Sunday.  So we locked that in.  And it was a day to remember!  I arrived early enough to practice my putting a little bit.  And took some pictures.

The practice putting green near the clubhouse.  The clock indicates the course was built in 1957.

When everyone else arrived, we hit some balls on the range and practices some putts before we teed off.

The course was in fantastic shape!  The fairways are surprisingly wide.  But the rough is deep.  And so were the traps!

The views off many holes were simply majestic.  Breathtaking.

I think this was hole #3.  Marty was aiming for the green down below.  In the distance along the horizon in the middle of the picture is San Diego.

We were in no rush and stopped for a number of photos along the way.  It was a simply gorgeous December day.

We all hit some good shots here and there, but no one had a particularly good day.  I think I'd say it was about as good a day one could have on the golf course while playing some not-so-memorable golf.

But it was a once-in-a lifetime type of place.  With two nephews (Rob and Matt) vs Marty and me.

The matches were close both nines but Marty eeked out a win.  But we should have since we have a chance to play a lot more golf than these guys do.  It was loads of fun and they can really smack that golf ball!

Another group shot, this time we figured out the time delay mechanism on the camera.

Marty is the real student of the game and the golf swing.  We always learn something from him.  I kept our match fairly close until the last three holes.  Then I promptly imploded.  Or rather got into the deep sand traps and couldn't get out.

Not surprisingly, Marty beat us all.  And he and I won the match between Rob and Matt.  But the most fun of all was just being out there with them.  It was a pretty fantastic time.

We knew it would be close and the last few holes we were trying to get in the club house before the sun went down.  I must have taken 20 pictures of the sunset...

Sometimes the camera makes things look a little brighter than it actually is.  It was really pretty dark out there by the time we finished up.

And one final group shot.  

So there is a look at Pam's Christmas present to me this year:  a round of golf at Torrey Pines South.  A beautiful day with my bro and his sons.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...