Zip

Meet Zip, a wonderful dog who loves her person Bill.

Into the Kolob

Zion National Park has  at least two faces: one is the usual Zion Canyon which we saw yesterday; the other is the Kolob, which is less frequented by visitors. Today we went to the Kolob where we experienced winter. Yesterday we had sunshine and warm weather, today we had rain on the valley floor and snow at the upper elevations. The icy decorations on the mountains was beautiful to behold.

Zion in Pictures

Zion

We are back in Zion. We visited last year and spoke so highly of that we convinced our cousins to meet us here this year. They are supposed to show up later today. Watch this site for some pretty pictures.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Loneliest Road in America

Today we drove Highway 50 from Reno to Ely, Nevada. A long time ago, this stretch of road was called the "Loneliest Road in America" by Life Magazine as it was free from traffic. Last night before taking "the Road" I read about it. Life gave it that name as a deterrent, but the nice folks in Nevada thought it was a great moniker and decided to play it up. Why not as there really is not that much to see in this part of Nevada.

Contrary to internet myth, the road is quite easy to drive; it has fuel and food along the way; it has cell service; and while it is not crowded, it is not empty either. I would say we saw over 200 cars today, but we were not counting. It is a very well maintained two lane road.

We entered the road in Fernley, (US 50 alt) and drove to Fallon. Because we had been warned that diesel might be hard to find, we filled up in Fallon (which is a good sized town with all sorts of franchises...typical of any developing city). Leaving Fallon was where the "lonely" started and we were "on the Road." The wider highway was left behind and a 2 lane "blue line highway" with a dotted yellow line and a "singer strip" to keep you from wandering out of your designated lane.

We stopped in Historic Middlegate Station for lunch. Nothing was there but a turn-around area that had been used by many folks and a sign saying the Ore House Saloon  (established in 1864) was 50 miles south.

If we had stopped about 2 miles further down the road, I would have taken pictures the "Famous Middlegate Shoe Tree" but we were moving along too quickly to stop and take a picture of it. Click here to see a picture of it and find out it's story.

The next stop was Austin which had 2 diesel stations and about 5 churches. I took one picture from the middle of the road as there was not any traffic.

Eureka was the next stop on the road, but it did not have much going for it either. We looked for a diesel station but found a old general store that was closed.

Last stop was Ely. Ely is huge in comparison to all the other towns along the way. Lots of different choices for food, fuel and lodging. After driving through tiny towns all day, Ely was a bit of a a shock. It looked so "normal" I did not take any pictures of it.

So, while we are not completely out of Nevada and we are not completely finished with the Loneliest Road in America, we did survive the hardest stretch of the road. It was fun. We've been driving the highways and byways of North America since the early 70s, and this was our first time on this stretch of highway 50.

The Loneliest Road is also the old Pony Express Trail and this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express. If you want to retrace all 1966 miles of that trail, and find out more about the sesquicentennial of the Pony Express, click here.

B is for Bird on Barbed Wire

I take the same walk most days. It's 1.6 miles from my home, to the bottom of the road and back to the house. I take my camera on my walk with the idea that I might see a picture or two and I rarely come back empty handed. This 1.6 mile stretch of country is well photographed!  Today I was looking for "B" pictures, and the barbed wire caught my attention. It's nasty stuff, yet balancing on the wire, was a sweet little bird. The bird does not know the barbed wire is prickly, so he's happy to sit on it.

Following along with the bird theme, is the rooster. My neighbor has a passle of roosters that wander around the 'hood. They have no problem walking  right in front of your car and making you stop...however, when you go to take their picture they run like the devil. I "captured" one this morning and he was none too happy.

Then there is this dog. Every morning we play a game. I walk close to his fence and he barks and barks...when I don't move, he stops barking and he comes near the fence to "talk" to  me. He's all bark and absolutely no bite.

It's spring and the flowers are in bloom. I love the bouquets of red mums. Can you imagine what a garden filled with these wonderful flowers would look like. Unfortunately it's only 2 plants, but they are both blooming like crazy.

But the best places to look at are the neighborhood ponds. There are several. A gentle zephyr was wafting this morning, so the ponds were mostly still and the reflections were wonderful.

An Experiment

My friend Teresa gave me a wonderful birthday present today...it's a small video cam...and I'm learning how to use it.
BUT alas, Blogspot does not support AVI...so I'll try somewhere else. I'll let you know what is happening Teresa.
Addendum: I just discovered this...does it work?