Flamingo on a Stick

Visitors Center Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Now that I have caught up on all our travels up to November, it's time to catch up on where we are now: Pahrump NV. My college roommate Nancy and her husband Dan are living in the Las Vegas area and I wanted to stop and catch up with her. We have spent time in Vegas and it's ok but really too busy and crazy for us. When I called Nancy I found out they were in the middle of moving from one house to another so not the best time to visit but she thought we could work something out so we decided to stay in Pahrump about 50 miles away for the month and give them some time but still get to see them. We have stayed here previously and decided to stay at the same resort, Nevada Treasure, as they have an excellent fitness center attached. It's also a little ways out of town and so very quiet. This park has worked out well for us but for our RV friends with bigger rigs, it can be pretty tight. We found a corner spot with a...

I am a little behind here but I definitely wanted to share a few photos of Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP. On our first visit to this part of Utah we missed Bryce Canyon National Park. We were waiting for our kids to join us and that is about the time we got flooded out of the area. It's a good 2 hour drive from Sand Hollow State Park where we were staying but well worth the drive. Really all we had time for that day was to drive the scenic byway and stop at all the viewpoints (or most of them anyway).  It is a beautiful place and rock formations here are as amazing as all the photos I have seen. Hoodoos galore! I will let the photos speak for themselves: When last in this area we did visit Zion National Park several times and had hiked many of its trails so this was a repeat visit. On that first visit we were almost alone in the park as it was December. The shuttles weren't running and we drove in those days. This time we parked just outside the gates on Springd...

The river in Bend In our travels we have come across different places that we have enjoyed and a few we even thought we could live in. Bend is probably at the top of our list. This was our second visit here and a short one but we get the same feeling we did last time we visited. It is a beautiful town with lots of tings to do and just a feel we love. Of course the number of microbreweries here (one person told us the current number is almost 30) doesn't hurt either. We have some RV friends who have settled here and we got together with them. They so fell in love with this area that they settled back down to a sticks and bricks house with a small travel trailer for camping adventures. The reasons they stayed are the reasons we could see ourselves here. A vibrant community with outdoor life as a way of life here. Plenty of trails, hiking, water sports and if you like to ski, the slopes are not far away. It does have all four seasons but a little milder than the Midwest winters...

Portland still in bloom Finally sitting down to post and you would think with all the rain here I would have done this sooner. Portland is weird and they embrace it; as far as I can see, it's a compliment. It's much different than I envisioned. It has that older city vibe to it and I think I was expecting something more modern. I like old, so I can say for the most part I like Portland. There's only one downside: the rain. I feel like we have had way too much rain ever since leaving Iowa and frankly I need more sun. Intellectually I knew it rained here but day after day of rain and gray skies, well that's enough for me. Part of it is we are pushing the season being here in October and I knew that too so I will plan our next visit here better. I don't think I understood until the last few years how much I am affected by the sun and getting outside. I really don't have even have to do much outside if I can just sit in the sun for awhile. So tomorrow we are ...

While in Coeur d'Alene, I was checking online for things to do in the area and came across a tour of an Alpaca ranch. Being the fiber, knitting junkie that I am, I knew exactly what we were going to do. I contacted the farm online to see if they were having tours, turns out it was Alpaca farm weekend so we could just come out to the farm anytime 10-4 and check things out, normally the tours are $10 each. So on Saturday the sun came out (which was a good sign) and off we went to the Seven Stars Alpaca Ranch. John surrounded by Alpacas It was a beautiful drive into the mountains, and thank goodness for GPS to help us find it. Since it was a special weekend we thought there would some other visitors but we drove in to find we were the only visitors so we ended up getting a private tour. Andy and his wife own the farm and are transplants from Alaska. The farm is beautiful and immaculately kept (as farms go). They have about 30 Alpacas along with 2 Llamas, 2 Angora goats, an Ic...